Lake Eyre back in Aboriginal care

Lake Eyre. Photo / Getty Images

When Donald Campbell set a land speed record on Lake Eyre in 1964, the local Arabana people were horrified. To the area's traditional owners, the great saltpan in the centre of Australia is a sacred place, part of their creation story.

The Arabana were rejoicing yesterday after the Federal Court granted them native title over Lake Eyre and surrounding desert country, more than 70,000 square kilometres in all.

Several hundred people converged on the lake's southern shore for a special hearing of the court at Finniss Springs, a former Aboriginal mission and pastoral station.

Aaron Stuart, chairman of the Arabana Aboriginal Corporation, said the land was being returned to its rightful owners. He pledged to uphold a ban on sailing on Australia's biggest and best known lake - which fills with water only a couple of times a century - but said that the Arabana welcomed visitors to the popular tourist destination.

The decision of the court - which convened in a tent at remote Finniss Springs - means that Aboriginal landowners will be allowed to hunt, fish, camp and conduct ceremonies in the area. They will also be able to negotiate with mining companies seeking to explore and mine on the land, opening the way for them to receive royalties and potentially lucrative benefits packages.

The ruling came on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the landmark Mabo decision by the High Court, overturning the notion of terra nullius - the idea that the continent was empty and owned by no one when the British arrived in 1788.

Stuart said: "Lake Eyre is a sacred and significant place to all Arabana people. We care for that land and the lake, and we want to see the land protected. This does not mean that we object to tourists - we are happy to share our country."

Not, however, with members of the Lake Eyre Yacht Club, who try to sail on the lake on the rare occasions when it fills with water.

Banned from the waterway last year by national parks authorities, who refused to grant them boating permits because of the Arabana's opposition, they vowed yesterday to flout further attempts to keep them off the lake.

The club's commodore, Bob Backway, said the group had a common law right to sail on Lake Eyre, and he condemned yesterday's announcement as "a great travesty of the native title system". Already fined A$345 ($447) by South Australia's Environment Department for sailing without a permit, he has refused to pay the fine. "I told them I was prepared to go to jail over it," he said.

Native title was granted following mediation between the claimants and other affected parties, including the state government. As well as the lake, it covers the land between the outback towns of Oodnadatta, Coober Pedy and Marree, including Anna Creek station, which covers 24,000 square kilometres of scrub country.

The Arabana agreed to give up their claim to the town of Marree itself, which has a population of 70.

Stuart says Lake Eyre is "like Uluru" to his people who believe that their ancestral spirit, Warrina, lives in the lake and is disturbed by boats.