Perth land title ruling contested

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The Australian government is to appeal against a court ruling granting native title rights over Perth to Aborigines.

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said the ruling needed clarification as it would have significant implications for similar claims over other cities.

Last month's court decision triggered fears that people's homes and access to public land could be under threat.

But the judge who made the ruling has defended it, saying there is much misunderstanding about native titles.

Justice Murray Wilcox found that the Noongar people had proved their claim to more than 6,000 sq km (2,300 sq miles) of land in Western Australia, which includes the state capital, Perth.

We're after recognition and if we get any type of benefit, it's to run businesses and train our people Ted HartSouth West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council

He said native title did not mean that freehold land or the rights of leaseholders were under threat, and he played down the question of compensation.

"I think native title is more important for other reasons than compensation," he told ABC Radio.

"The importance for Aboriginal communities of having recognition of their historic or traditional association with land, I think, is extremely significant."

'Clear understanding'

But Philip Ruddock says the ruling has left doubt over the issue of public access to areas he called vacant crown land, such as beaches and forests.

"The effective settlement of native title claims throughout Australia requires a clear understanding among stakeholders as to what the law allows," he said.

"This understanding has been disturbed by Justice Wilcox's recent findings in relation to native title over Perth."

He said there were several other native title claims still to be decided elsewhere in the country, which include parts of Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide.

"The final outcomes of this claim in Perth may have significant implications for other cities," Mr Ruddock said.

The Western Australian government has already filed an appeal against last month's ruling.

But state Attorney-General Jim McGinty said they were not seeking to overturn the decision.

"We simply want to have a clearer understanding of what the ground rules are in order to embrace native title in the future," he said.

Indigenous leaders have dismissed any suggestions they could take over people's homes.

"We're after recognition and if we get any type of benefit, it's to run businesses and train our people," Ted Hart, of the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council, said soon after the ruling.