LAND RIGHTS ISSUES FOR THE MARRA ABORIGINAL PEOPLE

This unit has a focus on the Land Rights of the Marra Aboriginal people. After deliberations lasting almost two decades the Government of the Northern Territory Proclaimed the Limmen National Park and the adjacent Limmen Bight Marine Park. Interested parties were invited to have an input on what the Parks would allow and disallow. As traditional occupiers of the designated region the Marra people were keen to have an input. This interest heightened when the mining operation within the Park boundaries indicated a projected development in the form of a pipeline that would carry iron ore sludge from the mine across traditional Marra land; across the shallow waters of the Limmen Bight and onto Maria Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Maria Island was of particular interest to the Marra people. Consequently the Marra Aboriginal people prepared and forwarded Petition to the Northern Territory outlining their objections to the proposed pipeline. This unit is about what happened. It is about land rights of the Marra who, through generations, had been impacted by European presnce on the lands they regarded as their traditional lands. Students can gain some insight into the Marra respect for land and the need to protect its resources.
The Petition is provided for screen use and is also contained in the attachments. Tke your students into the remote region of the Limmen National Park and the shallows seas of the Limmen Bight Marine Park. Have them consider the thinking behind the final Proclamation of the Parks which are shown in the map. There are other units on this area if you wish to broaden the study.