According to court documents, an Aboriginal group is suing Western Australia’s state government for 1.8 billion Australian dollars ($1.15 billion) in damages after it forbade a mining company to mine iron ore on its ancestral land without a land use agreement.
The Federal Court of Australia filings, revealed on Wednesday, showed that the Yindjibarndi Ngurra Aboriginal Corporation (YNAC) claimed that activity at the Solomon hub, run by global mining firm Fortescue, has severely damaged its land and people.
Due to the amount of compensation the Aboriginal group is seeking, as well as opening the door to other claims from Indigenous organizations for past tampering with their land, the case could turn out to be a landmark in Australia.
The state government is accused of suing the state government for almost $ 637 million to cover economic losses and $ 678 million Australian dollars (more than $ 431 million) to cover cultural damage caused by the mining project it authorized.
This week, the Federal Court of Australia will hear arguments, but a decision won’t be anticipated until late this year.
Should it lose the case, the state government is expected to try and recoup losses by suing Fortescue, the world’s fourth-largest miner of iron ore.
Fortescue stated in a statement to the Reuters news agency that it “accepts that the Yindjibarndi People are entitled to compensation” as a result of the project, but it disagrees with the group regarding the amount of compensation.
The firm’s founder, Andrew Forrest, is one of Australia’s wealthiest people and his firm recorded a net profit of $5.7bn last financial year, after tax.
The Solomon mining hub, which is located about 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of the remote Western Australian town of Tom Price, was granted exclusive native title rights in 2017.
Native title is an Australian legal doctrine that acknowledges Aboriginal groups’ land rights.
Fortescue’s vast mineral-rich project, which is capable of yielding up to 80 million tonnes of iron ore a year, started in the area in 2012.
The Solomon mine has caused existential harm to the Aboriginal people by destroying aspects of their land and culture, according to experts quoted by the Yindjibarndi People in its court filings.
According to the report, the Fortescue project has damaged six Dreaming or Creation story tracks as well as more than 285 important archaeological sites.
In Aboriginal culture, story tracks serve as a map of sacred sites, carrying important cultural knowledge passed down through generations over millennia, and which form part of Australia’s understanding of human settlements dating back about 40, 000-45, 000 years.
Source: Aljazeera
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