Sea
Rights Gathering in the Torres Strait
NNTT
Native Title Registrar Katie Stride presented the keynote address at the Sea
Rights Gathering convened by GBK on Thursday Island on 15-16 January 2026.
It
followed the 90th year commemoration of the Maritime Strike in 1936.
This event comprises the first organised regional collective action in the
Torres Strait, protesting the dangers and injustice of the pearl diving
industry that claimed the lives of many Islander divers.
The
event was hosted by the Governor General, Her Excellency Sam Mostyn and her
husband Mr. Simeon Beckett SC.
Registrar
Stride’s paper considered safeguarding and leveraging native title rights
offshore. Torres Strait Islanders’ native title rights are still exercised in
accordance with pre-determination, and often pre-NTA, legislative regimes. It
is a jurisdictionally complex region; offshore resource rights are tightly held
by government and changing the status quo is challenging.
Registrar
Stride considered opportunities for leveraging native title rights and
interests for economic development purposes in emerging regimes in the Blue
Economy and particularly opportunities presented by the Nature Repair Act 2023.
Registrar
Stride also participated in workshops with representatives from regional RNTBCs
and the Tiwi Island Aboriginal Land Trust.
