Indigenous title separating residents from the beach in Burrum Heads, Queensland, has enraged locals
Outraged locals lash out after being denied access to their favorite beach – following the successful claim of a local Aboriginal group
- The people of Butchulla were granted an indigenous title in 2019
- The native title cuts off the passage to a beach
Residents are displeased as they claim they cannot access a nearby beach after an indigenous community was granted indigenous property rights to the strip of sand.
Access to Burrum Heads Beach on Queensland’s Fraser Coast, north of Brisbane, was closed by the Butchulla people following a 2019 grant of an Indigenous title of 100,000 ha of land and ocean.
The provision of the original title includes a section designated as ‘exclusive use’, including some coastal waters and a car park separating the residents of Burrum Heads from the beach.
Branches and mesh now cover the entrance to the parking lot and the passage to the beach.
The restricted access to the beach comes after reports of a trespassing dispute during Australia Day celebrations in the area.
A small community in Queensland, Burrow Heads, is in the middle of a dispute between Indigenous people and residents after their native title cut off access to a beach (pictured)
The connection of the Butchulla people to the land and the sea was recognized after a special ruling by the Federal Court in 2019.
The determination reserves 17,129 acres of land in the area for the exclusive use of the Indigenous peoples, while non-exclusive Indigenous titles and interests apply to more than 79,608 acres of land.
Following the most recent conflict, the area’s Federal Member of Parliament, Keith Pitt, claimed that ‘a number of concerned residents of Burrum Heads had contacted my office about a piece of land under native title’.
“It has resulted in access to the beach being restricted and older voters being chased off the beach,” the Nationals MP told Daily Mail Australia.
“I contacted both the local MP and Fraser Coast Regional Council about the concerns I had been raised and to find out what steps were being taken to address the situation.
The council recommended that it work with the state government to understand how the land could be used and by whom.
“Every Australian is expected to comply with Australian laws and regulations without exception.”
According to Keith Pitt, Liberal MP for Hinkley, elderly residents have been ‘evicted’ from the beach (pictured) as disputes have escalated
The Butchulla people were granted approximately 100,000 hectares of land and sea in 2019, of which 17,129 hectares are exclusive to the Butchulla Native Title Aboriginal Corporation, including part of the waterfront at Burrum Heads
Griffith Law School associate professor Kate Galloway told the Courier Mail that while residents may be disappointed, an exclusive rights provision gives native title holders property rights.
According to the Queensland Resources Department, use of the land is not permitted without the consent of indigenous rights holders.
A negotiation process will have to be undertaken with the corporation in order to reach a land use agreement.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Butchulla Native Title Aboriginal Corporation for comment.