Speaker 1: Already and this is the daily This is the Daily ar,
Speaker 1: this is the Dahlias.
Speaker 2: Oh now it makes sense.
Speaker 1: Good morning and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Monday,
Speaker 1: the twentieth of October. I'm Emma Gillespie, I'm Billy FitzSimons.
Speaker 1: This week marks forty years since a major milestone in
Speaker 1: Aboriginal land rights history. In October nineteen eighty five, the
Speaker 1: Federal government returned the title Deeds of Ularoo cart Tudor
Speaker 1: National Park to the traditional custodians of the region, the
Speaker 1: Unaknew people.
Speaker 2: I know a place in the hands of the Ularu
Speaker 2: cade Tutor Aboriginal Land Trust. The title deeds.
Speaker 1: Four decades on. Celebrations began in London last week, where
Speaker 1: King Charles met with First Nations leaders ahead of more
Speaker 1: anniversary plans on country this week. Today, we are going
Speaker 1: to take you through what led to the nineteen eighty
Speaker 1: five handback, its significance and where thous Nations issues stand.
Speaker 1: Four decades on.
Speaker 2: M Ularu is an iconic landmark. It attracts thousands, maybe millions,
Speaker 2: I'm not sure, but thousands of visitors definitely every single
Speaker 2: year to Australia to kind of set the scene here.
Speaker 2: Do you want to tell us about the cultural significance
Speaker 2: of Ularu?
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely so. Ularu or Ularu Katujuda National Park is
Speaker 1: this massive, massive site in Australia's Red Center. It covers
Speaker 1: thirteen hundred square kilometers and within that park are two
Speaker 1: geological rock formations, two very large rock formations, I should
Speaker 1: say Ularu which is three hundred and forty eight meters
Speaker 1: high and Katajudah which is a group of thirty six
Speaker 1: domes with the highest formations rising to around five hundred meters.
Speaker 1: So these really remarkable natural formations and these are sacred
Speaker 1: site rights to the traditional owners, the Unknew people who
Speaker 1: have lived in the area for more than thirty thousand years. Now,
Speaker 1: two years after it was returned to the first peoples
Speaker 1: of the area, the handback were discussing today. The park
Speaker 1: was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty seven, and that's significant because it basically guarantees the
Speaker 1: protection of this site as a significant natural and cultural area.
Speaker 2: And what do we know about Ularu prior to it
Speaker 2: being returned to the traditional owners.
Speaker 1: So the land was taken over by the South Australian
Speaker 1: government in eighteen seventy three, and in nineteen fifty eight
Speaker 1: the area was declared a National park by the Commonwealth,
Speaker 1: and that was a declaration that happened without consultation with
Speaker 1: the traditional owners Ularu. The rock, though, was called Ularu
Speaker 1: long before colonization, but in eighteen seventy three an explorer
Speaker 1: by the name of William Goss renamed it Airs Rock.
Speaker 1: That was after the former South Australian Premier so Henrys,
Speaker 1: and for the better part of a century, Airs Rock
Speaker 1: was the most widely used name for this sacred site.
Speaker 1: I'm sure a lot of people have heard it referred
Speaker 1: to as Rock, but in nineteen ninety three it was
Speaker 1: officially renamed airs Rock slash Ularoo. It was the first
Speaker 1: NT landmark to actually be given dual names. Little interesting
Speaker 1: bit of trivia there. And then in two thousand and
Speaker 1: two these names were reversed and the rock took on
Speaker 1: the official name of Oolaroo slash airs Rock, which it
Speaker 1: still has today, but more and more over recent years,
Speaker 1: as Rock really feels like a name that has been
Speaker 1: a lot more phased out. Ularoo is I'd say that
Speaker 1: the most prominent name that we call it these days,
Speaker 1: and if you ever visit the area. All the traditional
Speaker 1: owners of course, will call it Boolaro as well.
Speaker 2: So its name was returned to Ularu after it went
Speaker 2: through this handback process. I want to go back to
Speaker 2: the handback process because that's what the anniversary this week is,
Speaker 2: do you I want to tell us more about what
Speaker 2: led to that handback.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So this was a culmination of years and years
Speaker 1: of advocacy by traditional owners who were fighting to regain
Speaker 1: ownership of this sacred area, their sacred lands. So it
Speaker 1: was a long campaign, but a key moment came in
Speaker 1: nineteen seventy nine. That's when the Unknew people presented a
Speaker 1: claim to the Aboriginal Land Rights Commission. Then we had
Speaker 1: six years of extensive hearings, investigations, and eventually a High
Speaker 1: Court judge, a justice by the name of Leslie Touhey,
Speaker 1: ruled in favor of the traditional owners and recommended the
Speaker 1: land be returned to them. That recommendation was accepted by
Speaker 1: the federal government and after negotiations, a formal handback ceremony
Speaker 1: happened on the twenty sixth of October nineteen eighty five,
Speaker 1: and that was when the Governor General at the time
Speaker 1: returned the title deeds for Ularu Cutajutor to the traditional
Speaker 1: custodians of the area.
Speaker 2: So by no means it was an easy process. The
Speaker 2: government did try to fight the traditional owners through this.
Speaker 1: There was I suppose controversy around the process. Nineteen eighty
Speaker 1: five might not sound so long ago, but in terms
Speaker 1: of the discussion about Aboriginal rights, it was certainly divisive
Speaker 1: in some parts of the country for a time.
Speaker 2: And the site, now, like I said before, it's such
Speaker 2: a popular tourist destination for so many people, you know,
Speaker 2: Australians as well as people coming from overseas. How does
Speaker 2: that work the tourism side of it.
Speaker 1: Yes, So this is a really interesting part of the story.
Speaker 1: So during the same ceremony where ownership was returned to
Speaker 1: the traditional owners, they actually signed a joint management agreement
Speaker 1: to lease the park back to the Australian National Parks
Speaker 1: and Wildlife Service. So the traditional owners agreed with this
Speaker 1: government agency that they would work in partnership together to
Speaker 1: care for and manage the park. And that includes, you know,
Speaker 1: managing the tourism trade in the area and maintaining culturally
Speaker 1: sensitive practices for people who do visit that sacred site.
Speaker 2: And what does that agreement look like now in I
Speaker 2: guess practical.
Speaker 1: Terms, yes. So obviously there is this symbolic significance when
Speaker 1: we're talking about the title deeds being returned to the
Speaker 1: First Nations people of the area. But this also really
Speaker 1: gave the unnew people legal ownership and a genuine say
Speaker 1: in how their sacred lands are managed. So, for example,
Speaker 1: under this joint management model, the traditional custodians have input
Speaker 1: into all major decisions about the park. They're employed as rangers,
Speaker 1: they conduct cultural tours, and they've really been able to
Speaker 1: implement important changes that respect their cultural values so that
Speaker 1: you know, the rest of the country and the world
Speaker 1: can continue to enjoy that site alongside them.
Speaker 2: And we're going to keep discussing more about Uluru, but
Speaker 2: first here is a quick message from our sponsor and so.
Speaker 2: And we're talking about it today because it is the
Speaker 2: forty year anniversary this week. I don't think it's exactly today,
Speaker 2: but it is the week, yep.
Speaker 1: How is it being commemorated, So celebrations started early, you're correct.
Speaker 1: The anniversary officially is the twenty sixth, but last week
Speaker 1: there was a service in London that was attended by
Speaker 1: King Charles that was held at Australia House and a
Speaker 1: group of nine traditional owners from the Red Center were
Speaker 1: there to speak with the King.
Speaker 2: Just to clarify Australia House in London.
Speaker 1: Australia House in London. This is the High Commission, Australia's
Speaker 1: High Commision in the UK. And there was one un
Speaker 1: anew woman Alison Carroll, who was among the leaders that spoke,
Speaker 1: and she reflected on the significance of the King's presence
Speaker 1: at this event and her words were translated by a
Speaker 1: fellow and a new representative, Harry Wilson, but basically she
Speaker 1: described the handback process as one that gives the first
Speaker 1: peoples of the area a sense of belonging, ownership and control.
Speaker 1: She reflected on growing up seeing monarchs like the Queen
Speaker 1: and how times have shifted for her people. The nine
Speaker 1: representativetives who were there speaking to the King, they'll make
Speaker 1: their way back to Australia now and they'll be on
Speaker 1: country celebrations later in the week. That includes a public
Speaker 1: celebration concert on Saturday, which will feature traditional dance, live performances,
Speaker 1: and the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanzi is expected to attend
Speaker 1: some of those celebrations.
Speaker 2: I was going to ask, as the federal government said
Speaker 2: much about this yet.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So during that service with King Charles in London,
Speaker 1: there was a video message played from Anthony Albanesi and
Speaker 1: the Prime Minister called the nineteen eighty five handback a
Speaker 1: milestone in Aboriginal land rights in Australia. He called it
Speaker 1: a powerful moment in the story of our continent. He
Speaker 1: also thanked the traditional owners who made the long journey
Speaker 1: to share their cultural history in the UK, as well
Speaker 1: as the King for quote taking this opportunity to meet
Speaker 1: with traditional owners ahead of what is a deeply significant anniversary.
Speaker 1: He added, in Australia, Ularu stands as a monument to
Speaker 1: our people's love for the country and their determination to
Speaker 1: seek justice done.
Speaker 2: One thing that I remember became a huge moment and
Speaker 2: in recent memory when it comes to Uluru is the
Speaker 2: ban on people walking over it. Do you remember that? Yes?
Speaker 2: I think it was twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1: It was twenty nineteen, really great memory.
Speaker 2: How can you tell us about that?
Speaker 1: So this is a direct outcome of the nineteen eighty
Speaker 1: five handback, a really significant outcome at that. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen we saw that change after decades of
Speaker 1: tourists climbing the rock despite it being a sacred First
Speaker 1: Nation site, and essentially after the traditional owners regained ownership,
Speaker 1: they really pushed for and were finally able to close
Speaker 1: that climb years of requests for that to happen. And
Speaker 1: I also think it's interesting to reflect on the legacy
Speaker 1: of forty years since this agreement, which has also been
Speaker 1: replicated in other national parks across Australia, so it's influenced
Speaker 1: quite broadly how we think about land rights and First
Speaker 1: Nations participation in land management and how the government interacts
Speaker 1: with traditional owners in those situations.
Speaker 2: Here we go, I want to ask you how First
Speaker 2: Nations issues have changed in the decades since the handback,
Speaker 2: because it was October two years ago when the Voice
Speaker 2: referendum happened as we know it failed. How have First
Speaker 2: Nations issues changed and developed in the decades since the handback?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it would be remiss of us not
Speaker 1: to describe the decades since as a really mixed picture.
Speaker 1: As you mentioned, it was the two year anniversary just
Speaker 1: a few days ago, on the fourteenth of October of
Speaker 1: the failed Voice referendum, so that was the day in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three when Australia rejected that proposal to recognize
Speaker 1: First Nations peoples in the Constitution to establish a voice
Speaker 1: to Parliament. Just four of the nineteen closing the Gap
Speaker 1: targets are on track to be met, and many of
Speaker 1: the fundamental challenges First Nations communities face remain deeply entrenched.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: Just last week as well, we saw the New South
Speaker 1: Wales Coroner announced that they're been a record number of
Speaker 1: First Nations deaths in custody so far this year in
Speaker 1: the state. The coroner, Theresa O'Sullivan, called that a profoundly
Speaker 1: distressing milestone. And of course that kind of coincided almost
Speaker 1: to the day of the referendum failure, which means, you know,
Speaker 1: there's been a lot of reflection. There is always a
Speaker 1: lot of reflection at this time of year. But despite
Speaker 1: the referendum's failure. I wanted to quote Alira Davis from
Speaker 1: the Ularu Youth Dialogue. She spoke to the AAP last
Speaker 1: week and said that even though the referendum did fail,
Speaker 1: it started millions of conversations and changed the landscape of
Speaker 1: Indigenous affairs in real ways. She said, quote people who
Speaker 1: have never thought about certain parts of Australia's history, or
Speaker 1: about how power is distributed, or about who makes decisions
Speaker 1: for First Nations people, and now having these important conversations
Speaker 1: because of the referendum, I just want to finish on
Speaker 1: this line that she added, change in this country takes
Speaker 1: time decades in our case, but history tells us it
Speaker 1: always begins with persistence.
Speaker 2: A powerful quote to end on a really important story,
Speaker 2: and like we said, one that we're going to be
Speaker 2: hearing a lot about this week as it is the anniversary.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for explaining.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Billy, and thank.
Speaker 2: You so much for listening to this episode of The
Speaker 2: Daily Oz. We'll be back this afternoon with your afternoon headlines,
Speaker 2: but until then, have a great day. My name is
Speaker 2: Lily Madden and I'm a proud Arunda Bungelung Chalcuttin woman
Speaker 2: from Gadigol Country. The Daily oz acknowledges that this podcast
Speaker 2: is recorded on the lands of the Gadighl people and
Speaker 2: pays respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island and nations.
Speaker 2: We pay our respects to the first peoples of these countries,
Speaker 2: both past and present,