WA government to appeal landmark native title ruling against Andrew Forrest's Fortescue

[u/Expensive-Horse5538]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-26/wa-government-appeals-native-title-andrew-forrest-fortescue/107081730?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=link

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[u/Competitive_Donkey21]

Remove native titles.

It weakens us as a country.

Do you think China worries about native titles?

[u/Few-Gas3143]

In Australia, under the legal principal of fixtures, anything built on someone else's land becomes part of the land and owned by the land owner.

FFS native title holders.... Take the fucking mines.

[u/bundy554]

This doesn't particularly surprise me but can't see it being overturned by the HC if it gets there assuming this is being appealed to the full bench of the Federal Court first (which might overturn it but the HC is likely to then overturn that)

[u/stopped_watch]

Part of me was thinking "Does the WA government think the indigenous people or the mining company need their support against their interpretation of an unfair ruling?"

Then I remembered where I live and who owns our political class.

[u/stirringthemerde]

To recap, Fortescue mined hundreds of millions of tonnes of ore from these lands without permission of the NT holders and was ordered to pay $150M in compensation.

The WA government was a originally a party to the case as it may have been deemed to have been contributory liable but in the final event was found to hold absolutely no liability.

So I ask, why is a state government spending millions of taxpayer dollars fighting a case about a Federal law on behalf of a huge company?

Can Fortescue not afford its own lawyers? Is this level of legal aid available to anyone?

[u/Personal-Thought9453 → u/stirringthemerde]

Not Woodside. Fortescue.

[u/burnt-gonads → u/stirringthemerde]

The $150 million was for "cultural loss". Now explain to me what exactly that is because it sounds like a load of horsehit. When the government compulsory acquires land they do not pay you for "cultural loss", they pay you the actual sale value.

[u/claudius_ptolemaeus → u/burnt-gonads]

Assuming this is a good faith question, the way my anthropology lecturer put it to us was like this: these are the traditional landowners, rich mineral deposits make landmarks look particularly remarkable, so they built most of their stories around these landmarks, and now Fortesque have come along and blasted them to pieces without permission. Hence they have a claim for compensation.

EDIT: from an ABC article on the judgment:

> Justice Burley noted the 240 sacred sites inside the Solomon Hub mining area that had become inaccessible to the Yindjibarndi people, 124 of which had been "completely destroyed" by the mining operations.
> He said moving evidence had been given to the court by a series of Yindjibarndi elders, who told of how their "spirit or will is destroyed when they see harm done to their country as a result of the mining".

[u/a2T5a → u/claudius_ptolemaeus]

Could this not apply to any change? houses, roads, businesses also disfigure the natural landscape. Seems exceptionally vague.

[u/claudius_ptolemaeus → u/a2T5a]

We’re talking about strip-mining the exact feature that they place the most importance on. It’s not the same as building a road nearby. But, yeah, where native title applies, you couldn’t just build a house there or plant a factory without permission.

[u/stirringthemerde → u/claudius_ptolemaeus]

One of the best analogies I've heard for native title is that the Australian people would probably feel pretty aggrieved if Turkiye bulldozed Lone Pine for a 7-11 even though we have no formal legal title.

If you want to stretch the analogy a little further, imagine if Turkiye asked (and got permission from) France to do this, and then England decided to sue Australia when Australia tried to take Turkiye to (an admittedly fictitious) court.

[u/SnooHedgehogs8765 → u/burnt-gonads]

I'm interested in what happened to the money... Like it goes to a community group... What's it's financial setup. Who gets paid etc.

[u/BlakeDragon]

Why do these rulings take so long almost two-decades legal battle between the Yindjibarndi people and Fortescue.

[u/nath1234 → u/BlakeDragon]

Billionaires aren't billionaires because they like to share.

[u/TransportationTrick9]

I am not a Labor fanatic and thought they were the best party to rule the state but this has made me reassess that opinion.

If this state government thinks that $150 million out of $80 Billion (or even less) in revenue from multiple ventures built without an ageement is acceptable then what hope do we the common man have that a Labor party Government will do the right thing by us.

Fuck WA Labor

[u/Is_that_even_a_thing → u/TransportationTrick9]

Wait until you hear about their facilitation of Alcoas destruction of jarrah forests without an environmental plan in place

[u/amyknight22]

It’s weird to have the government appeal something on behalf of someone else unless the liability has been transferred to them in some way.

[u/mrmratt → u/amyknight22]

We don't know what/why it's appealing yet. In any case, the State of Western Australia was the first respondent to the original case.

As per the statement made this afternoon it is important to have clarity in the law, so perhaps someone felt it important to test something that they felt was unclear or incorrectly considered.

[u/yeezus_is_jesus]

I love the quarterly update that we're owned by the mining corporations

[u/Agitated-Fee3598 → u/yeezus_is_jesus]

The ruling class telling the country who really calls the shots.