Traditional owners push for park ownership
North-west Victorian Aboriginal groups are continuing their push for Indigenous ownership of national parks in the region. Traditional owners and the representatives from Victoria’s Department of Sustainability and the Environment met at the weekend to discuss plans for a draft agreement on natural resources management. The concept of Aboriginal ownership and joint management of National Parks in Australia is not a new one. Approximately half of Australia’s largest national park, Kakadu in the NT, has been given back to its traditional owners…and title to the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park was granted to its rightful owners in 1985. But deputy chairperson of the North West Nations Clans Aboriginal Corporation, Garry Murray, says the Victorian government is nevertheless reluctant to enter similar agreements.