Kabi Kabi People recognised as the Sunshine Coast’s native title holders

An Indigenous group has been formally recognised as the native title holders over a huge are of land in Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in a historic ruling by a Federal Court judge after almost two decades.

At a special hearing in Brisbane, Justice Berna Collier recognised the Kabi Kabi as the native title holders for more than 365,000 hectares of land and waters.

This area stretches from Elimbah Creek to Sandstone Point, Bribie Island, Cooloola National Park, Mary River, Curra State Forest and the Isis River.

The determination areas also includes Noosa, Gympie, Mudjimba Island, Maroochydore and Caloundra.

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Mt Coolum is one of the tourist locations under the native title ruling. Tourism Qld Escape Credit: Supplied

Justice Collier was satisfied the Kabi Kabi people “have and always have had native title rights and interests in this country” the court heard.

“I congratulate everyone involved for reaching agreement in this matter, but in particular the Kabi Kabi people whose native title rights and interests have today received deserved recognition,” she said.

Norman Bond, who is a Kabi Kabi traditional owner, said the ruling meant “stability and grounding to build the Kabi Kabi Nation where it should be”.

“It means the Kabi Kabi People can be formally recognised by all tiers of government and by the public without feeling they (Kabi Kabi) have to justify who they are, because the native title claim process was not complete,” Mr Bond told the Courier Mail.

The Glasshouse Mountains, a popular tourist spot is also under the native title ruling. Credit: Supplied

The non-exclusive title rights that the Kabi Kabi people hold over their traditional country means they have the right to hunt and camp, but not control access or use of the area.

This does not prevent non-Indigenous people from using the land if they have a legal interest to that land.

According to the Queensland South Native Title Services, this effectively means that an Indigenous group can’t tell the public to “get off the land”.

This has posed an issue in the past, as disputes have flared up in Burrum Heads near Hervey Bay since last year.

Another Indigenous group to have native title rights recognised is the Butchulla People, who hold it around Hervey Bay and K’Gari.

They were granted almost 100,000 hectares of native title land on the Fraser Coast in 2019, which includes 17,000 hectares of exclusive use.

Shot of Mt Coolum waterfall. Greg Forward. Credit: News Regional Media

A small group of Butchulla people had established a camp near the idyllic beach and were chasing away residents, which the Butchulla Native Title Aboriginal Corporation (BNTAC) stated that they were using it without proper authorisation.

The BNTAC have critised the group and their actions, stating that there was a way for “all to enjoy this beautiful country”.

At the time of the incident, Federal MP Keith Pitt argued that the best solution for the conflict was for the small stretch near the beach to be removed from the exclusive use ruling.

Queensland Premier Steven Miles has assured the ruling would not impact freehold land.

Queensland Premier Steven Miles assures that this ruling will not cut public access to these areas. Scott Powick/Newswire Credit: NewsWire

“The Kabi Kabi people have said they want people to continue to enjoy what makes the Sunshine Coast great —the Glasshouse Mountains, Mount Coolum, the beaches. I don’t think there’s anything here to be concerned about,” he said.

“If anything, it’s just an opportunity for us to better understand, better integrate those First Nations’ stories into our understanding of the land.”

Despite the historic ruling taking place in their favour, Kabi Kabi traditional owner Kerry Jones said it has “taken longer than I thought”.

“My family have never left Country, and we have always looked after and fought for the environment and all our rivers for generations and still do today,” he told the Courier Mail.

“Many of our old people have passed on this journey.”