The Wakaya Alyawarre (Repeat) Land claim in the Barkly region of the Northern Territory has officially been signed by the Governor-General, 44 years after the claim was first lodged.
Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, chief executive of the National Indigenous Australians Agency, Jody Broun, and Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness, Clare O'Neil, attended a ceremony with Governor-General Sam Mostyn AC on Thursday where, immediately following Federal Executive Council, she signed a deed of grant to the Wakaya-Alyawarre Aboriginal land trust.
The amendment to the Northern Territory's Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 (Land Rights Act) will allow Traditional Owners to be granted more than 484,000 hectares of land, located approximately 275km south-east of Tennant Creek.
Eileen Bonney is the only surviving senior member of the original land rights claim group from 1980, and last year said she was happy the resolution to the claim occurred "while I'm still living".
"I am happy to see this settled for my children and all our families," Ms Bonney said.
"It's happened at last. I'm still here. I was strong, now I got weaker. I'm still right."
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Presenting the deed to the Governor-General, Senator McCarthy said it was her "great pleasure to present for your signature the deed of grant to Wakaya Alyawarre Aboriginal land trust".
"This instrument progresses an unresolved land claim in the Northern Territory that was first lodged in 1980 and was prepared as a consequence of an amendment to the 1976 Aboriginal land rights act," Senator McCarthy said.
On social media, Senator McCarthy added: "Hello to Eileen Bonnie and all the families. We've signed the deed, and I'll see you soon in the Northern Territory."
The Central Land Council (CLC) first lodged the Wakaya Alyawarre Land Claim 42 in 1980.
Since the first claim was lodged, Traditional Owners have won back two parcels of the original claim area whilst agreeing to withdraw the Canteen Creek township area from the rest.
Last year, the CLC said in order to settle the Wakaya-Alyawarre (Repeat) Land Claim No. 130, Traditional Owners consented to an agreement between the CLC and the NT Government to surrender Native Title rights to the Canteen Creek township area.
The claim is one of the CLC's last two outstanding claims under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act, with the Land Council having now won back "more than half of the land in the southern NT for Traditional Owners".
They said the Indigenous Land Use agreement was the outcome of "exhaustive consultations" over many years, which had the support of Native Title holders and Canteen Creek residents.