Aborigines denied rights to mineral wealth of tribal land

An Australian court ruled yesterday that indigenous people have no rights over minerals or oil found beneath tribal lands worked by mining companies.

The landmark decision by the High Court in Canberra formed part of a complex ruling on a 1994 claim by the Miriuwung-Gajerrong tribe to 3,050 sq miles of land in north-western Australia. The area includes the Argyle diamond mine, the largest in the country.

The judgment, described by Aboriginal elders as "offensive and discriminatory", declared that indigenous people retained limited rights to hunt on the land and visit sacred sites.

A spokesman for the Miriuwung-Gajerrong people said the message was: "Nice little black fella, you can go hunting but you don't have any control over who goes on the land." The ruling, which is expected to determine the outcome of hundreds of other cases, was the latest in a series of court decisions seeking to clarify Aborigines' rights over their traditional lands.

Australia has been grappling with the issue since 1992, when the High Court overturned the 200-year-old legal fiction that the continent was unoccupied when British colonists arrived. Aborigines have since lodged hundreds of land claims.

A test case in 1996 established that Aborigines could share government-owned grazing lands with farmers, using the pastures for traditional purposes such as hunting, fishing and ceremonies.

Lawyers for the Miriuwung-Gajerrong tribe had argued that it had "native title" rights over the chunk of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. But the the Chief Justice, Murray Gleeson, said: "All native title rights and interest in respect of the land within that reserve had been extinguished before the Argyle mining lease was granted." The mine is currently owned by the Rio Tinto company.

The Miriuwung-Gajerrong spokesman said: "At the end of the day it won't make any difference ... We still see ourselves as the original owners and we have responsibility for maintaining the land."

The decision was welcomed by the government, which said it would give confidence to mining companies.

Mining industry executives have repeatedly warned that uncertainty over native title has discouraged spending on exploration.