WA traditional owners say they are being ignored amid developments

A traditional owner group in Western Australia says a historic agreement between the state government and the Noongar Nation of the South West has allowed smaller dialect groups to be ignored on their own country.

The South West Native Title Settlement, which commenced in 2021, was spruiked as the most comprehensive native title agreement negotiated in Australian history, recognising the traditional owners of the South West region.

However, it has come under fire by the Njaki Njaki people from the Wheatbelt, who say they are being shut out from consultations on major projects on their traditional land.

Njaki Njaki ignored

As hundreds of millions of dollars are pumped into new and ongoing projects in the eastern Wheatbelt, the Njaki Njaki people say their responsibilities and cultural authority as the traditional owners are being ignored.

Projects in the area include the Collgar wind farm, upgrades to the Goldfields Pipeline, the Merredin Big Battery and the Kondinin wind farm.

The Njaki Njaki group said it had ancestral connections to a large portion of the land use agreement area that was legally represented by the Ballardong Aboriginal Corporation (BAC).

However, Njaki Njaki Noongar man Michael Hayden said that when project proponents went to the BAC about cultural heritage on Njaki Njaki land, the corporation failed to involve the Njaki Njaki people.

"We've been denied, we've been disrespected, our rights and interests have been dismissed and just pushed aside," Mr Hayden said.

"You've got people speaking on other people's country."

"As Aboriginal people, under our customs and protocols, you never go into someone else's country speaking on their heritage."

Mr Hayden said the Njaki Njaki group, numbering in the hundreds, was being denied financial benefits and opportunities in training and employment that were meant to flow to traditional owners from the developments.

"We don't want to see other Aboriginal people from elsewhere coming in, taking these opportunities away from us as locals," he said.

The ABC contacted several proponents of major developments in the Njaki Njaki agreement area but none provided information about their engagement with traditional owners.

Board member steps down

The Njaki Njaki group's claims are supported by former BAC chairperson Tracey de Grussa, who held the position for a year before another board member was elected to replace her in December.

Ms de Grussa said she had witnessed "non-acknowledgement" of Njaki Njaki people from within the corporation.

"There was people that had no right to be going out onto Njaki Njaki country, doing surveys and monitoring jobs without even reaching out to the traditional owners out that way," she said.

Ms de Grussa stepped down as a member on the board in June.

"We've [Noongar nation] been divided by governments for years, ever since white-fella law come in," she said.

"This settlement does not bring us together. It has divided us even further."

Ms de Grussa said the BAC should be renamed to represent all five of the Aboriginal groups within its agreement area, which was on Njaki Njaki, Whadjuk, Wilman, Goreng and Wajarri land.

BAC assures inclusion

A BAC spokesperson said it was not ready to respond to the ABC's queries about the dispute.

However, they shared previous correspondence with Mr Hayden in which a chairperson acknowledged that concerns and differing views had been raised by the Njaki Njaki community.

"BAC is taking these concerns seriously and is working diligently and thoughtfully to understand and address them," the email read.

"I wish to assure you that the Njaki Njaki group will continue to be included in BAC's considerations, consultations and negotiations with the Water Corporation and other proponents."

Fight for representation

A note in the Noongar Recognition Act 2016 refers to "a number of different groups" in the Noongar nation, and names 15 groups including "nyakinyaki".

Mr Hayden said most of the six regional corporations were responsible for representing multiple groups.

He said a popular-vote leadership structure resulted in a number of the corporations being dominated by a single group.

"Nowadays it's the bigger your population and group is, the more chances you get in to have a say on and control the way things are done,"

he said.

Mr Hayden said the group wanted its own regional corporation, or a ward system to ensure fair representation of each Aboriginal group.

Mr Hayden said Ballardong representatives and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Don Punch had declined several invitations to meet with the group to resolve the issues.

Minister Punch declined the ABC's requests for an interview.

The Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations did not advise whether it was aware of the concerns but pointed to a federal bill which does not refer to any specific language groups.

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