Yindjibarndi Ngurra Aboriginal Corporation has filed a landmark lawsuit against the Western Australian government.
According to court filings, the Aboriginal group has USD 1.8 billion ($1.15 billion) from the Western Australian government after allowing mining companies to establish iron ore projects on landless ancestral land. I am seeking compensation.
A federal court in Australia, revealed on Wednesday, showed that Yindjibarndi Ngurra Aboriginal Corporation (YNAC) alleged that activities at the Solomon Hub, run by global mining company Fortescue, had seriously hurt the land and people.
The case proves Australia’s groundbreaking, as it could open the door to the amount of compensation required by Aboriginal groups and other claims from Indigenous organizations of past damage to the land. It may be.
The submission includes a claim against the state government of Australia’s $1 billion (almost $637 million) to compensate for the cultural damages that result from the mining project. loss.
The Australian federal court has heard debate this week, but no ruling is expected until late this year.
If it loses the incident, the state government is expected to seek to regain the loss by suing Fortescue, the world’s fourth largest iron ore miner.
In a statement to Reuters, Fortescue said it would accept that “Yindjibarndi people have a right to compensation” for the project, but that disagrees with the group “about the amount of compensation.”
The company’s founder, Andrew Forest, is one of Australia’s wealthiest people, and his company recorded a net profit of $5.7 billion last year after tax.
In 2017, the people of Yindjibarndi won the exclusive native title rights on the land covering the Solomon Mine Hub, about 60km (37 miles) north of the town of Tom Price in West Western Australia.
The native title is an Australian legal doctrine and recognizes land rights of Aboriginal groups.
Fortescue’s vast mineral-rich project can produce up to 80 million tonnes of iron ore per year, launched in the region in 2012.
According to experts submitted and cited by the people of Yindjibarndi to the court, the Solomon mine caused existential damage to Aboriginal people by destroying the land and cultural aspects.
The Fortescue project is damaging more than 285 important archaeological sites and six dreams and creations story tracks, the report says.
In Aboriginal culture, story tracks act as maps of sacred places, with important cultural knowledge passed down over thousands of years and generations, and were about 40,000-45,000 years ago. It forms part of our understanding of Australian human settlements.
“The great harm to the country, people and dreams remains ongoing,” the report said.