An Australian court ordered iron ore giant Fortescue on Tuesday to pay Indigenous people more than Aus$150 million ($108 million) in compensation for mining on their traditional lands. It was reportedly the largest compensation order in Australian history under laws giving Indigenous people land rights, known as native title. Federal Court judge Stephen Burley described how four large open-pit mines, a railway, tailings dam, waste dumps and a stockpile were strewn across the lands of the Yindjibarndi people in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
More than 135 square kilometres (52 square miles) had been fenced off for the so-called Solomon mining hub, barring everyone including the traditional owners from entry because of the danger. Of 240 designated Indigenous “heritage sites”, 124 were “completely destroyed” by mining operations and some others dug up, put under roads or drowned by the tailings dam, the judge said in a written summary of his findings.
Burley awarded a “relatively low” financial compensation of about Aus$100,000, based on the freehold value of the land. But he ordered that compensation for the cultural loss, which must be assessed separately, would be Aus$150 million. The award was far below the Yindjibarndi Ngurra Aboriginal Corporation’s demand for more than Aus$800 million in compensation for economic losses and Aus$1 billion in cultural losses.
Fortescue, chaired by billionaire Andrew Forrest, had argued for cultural compensation of no more than Aus$8 million.”Andrew Forrest and Fortescue care deeply about all First Nations people, including the Yindjibarndi community,” a Fortescue spokesperson said.”Fortescue accepts that the Yindjibarndi People are entitled to compensation.”The mining company said it had strong relationships with Indigenous peoples in the Pilbara region and that it worked hand in hand with them to manage their cultural heritage “sustainably and responsibly”.- ‘An inspiration’ -The peak body representing traditional owners of land across Australia said the case illustrated how much compensation was still owed to them.”The Yindjibarndi People’s perseverance is an inspiration to other Traditional Owners who continue to fight for what they are owed,” said Jamie Lowe, chief executive of the National Native Title Council.
Their native title over the land had been recognised for more than two decades, but they had to spend four years in the courts for compensation, Lowe said.”Hundreds of Traditional Owner organisations nationwide are owed compensation for past and continuing acts,” he said.”Unpaid monies represent lost economic development and investment opportunities for First Nations communities.”Indigenous peoples, whose ancestors have lived on the continent for more than 60,000 years, are far more likely to be incarcerated or die in custody than other Australians and have lifespans about eight years shorter than the rest of the population.
In his Federal Court finding, the judge quoted one Yindjibarndi witness, Middleton Cheedy, as saying: “I have been traumatised throughout my life by racism, deaths in my family, alcohol coming into our community, watching the old people try to save the Harding river but the mine is like a death for me.”It has killed all the things that are important to the Yindjibarndi people.”
Tue, 12 May 2026 10:28:33 GMT