| The National Native Title Tribunal today appointed a team of four mediators to assist in negotiations between native title claimants, the Queensland State Government and mining company Century Zinc over the proposed Century Zinc mine and slurry pipeline in north-west Queensland.
The team of mediators will include Mr Rick Farley, Mr Tony Lee and Dr Mary Edmunds with Tribunal President Justice French acting in a coordinating role. Each of the mediators will work on different aspects of the negotiations using their particular areas of expertise, Justice French said.
Claimants Mr Henry Aplin, Ms Stella Diamond, Mr Peter Bell, Mr Don George and Mr Peter O'Keefe made a formal request for Tribunal assistance with mediation yesterday. This was the first time the Tribunal had been asked to act as mediator in relation to the Century Zinc mine. The appointment of the mediation team will mark the start of the Tribunal's formal involvement in the negotiation process.
Century Zinc, native title claimants and the State are currently negotiating under the right-to-negotiate provisions of the Native Title Act over issues related to the proposed mine and pipeline.
Under the provisions, parties can negotiate between themselves and request assistance from the Tribunal. If parties cannot reach agreement, any one party can call on the Tribunal to arbitrate. The Act sets a minimum six month negotiating period, due in this case on 5 December, after which any one party can ask for arbitration.
There are seven native title claims, involving five groups of claimants, with a right-to-negotiate over the project.
The claimant groups are:
Mr Henry Aplin and others, for the Waanyi people; Ms Beryl Willetts and Ms Shirley Chong, for the Waanyi people; Mr Peter O'Keefe, for the Waanyi people; Mr Jerry Kenneth Callope and Richard Boderick Bee, on behalf of the Gkuthaarn and Kukatj peoples, and Ms Stella Diamond, on behalf of her father's descendants and other traditional owners and customary users of the area.
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