More than a thousand documents and 30 gigabytes of material will be sorted out for the legal dispute between Fortescue and Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, a court has been told.
More than a thousand documents and 30 gigabytes of material will be sorted out for the legal dispute between Fortescue and Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, a court has been told.
The native title dispute over Andrew Forrest-led Fortescue Metals Group's Solomon hub in the Pilbara has been long running, with the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation (YAC) launching legal action in the Federal Court of Australia against the state of Western Australia in 2022.
YAC claimed compensation after the Federal Court ruled in 2017 that the Yindjibarndi people had exclusive possession over the Pilbara land where Fortescue's Solomon mine is located.
Speaking before Federal Court judge Stephen Burley today, lawyers for the parties involved straighten out some administrative matters before questioning cultural anthropologist Kingsley Palmer on his reports of the Yindjibarndi people.
Lawyer for the state, Griff Ranson, told the court he was concerned the gigantic amount of material would not assist Justice Burley in the hearing.
“At the moment we have a very large draft court book which we’ve applied no filter to, we’ve just allowed parties to put any document they like into that book on the assumption it’ll be dealt with later,” Mr Ranson said.
“I think it’s 1,500 documents and 30 gigabytes of data, so it’s an enormous amount of material.
“I don’t think any human could look at it all in any reasonable period of time.”
He said the court book was expected to be finalised in May.
“Unless a document is led by a witness or explained subsequently in the hearings, it shouldn’t go in,” Mr Ranson said.
YAC claimed in court that Fortescue mined on their land for years without the permission of the Yindjibarndi people and caused a division among the Aboriginal community in Roebourne.
YAC is the lawfully authorised agent of the Yindjibarndi people.
Fortescue has for years supported the Wirlu-Murra Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation (WYAC), a breakaway of YAC.
Roebourne-based WYAC was established in 2012 after a rift with YAC, claiming the latter was not properly representing the interests of the Yindjibarndi people.
In court, Mr Ranson questioned Dr Palmer on the differing opinions between WYAC and YAC despite having a large overlap of members and sharing the same or similar beliefs.
Dr Palmer told the court the Wirlu-Murra group would have known he was in Roebourne while compiling his reports, if they wanted to participate.
"My view, as an expert, is those who share Yindjibarndi law and belief would share similar feelings of hurt and sadness at what has happened at the Solomon hub," he said.
"I’m not trying to be awkward but there’s lots of complexities in this.
"One of the issues in my reading of the evidence and data I collected is that at least some Yindjibarndi people, if not all, have not been asked whether they would give permission for these things to happen in their country."
The Yindjibarndi people filed an application for native title in 2003. Two years later, Fortescue geologists discovered the Solomon iron ore deposit.
It took years of proceedings until the Federal Court recognised the Yindjibarndi people have exclusive rights over the Pilbara land where Fortescue operates its Solomon hub in 2017.
The Federal Court hearing has been scheduled for three weeks.
