Meadows, Geoff --- "Merapah Station Land Purchase" [1990] AboriginalLawB 31; (1990) 1(45) Aboriginal Law Bulletin 7

• Merapah Station Land Purchase

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Merapah Station Land Purchase

by Geoff Meadows

Merapah Station is a large pastoral holding of some 1800 square kilometres, located on Central Cape York Peninsula. The Station homestead is situated about 120 kilometres by road from the township of Coen, where most of the traditional owners now live. From an Aboriginal perspective, most of Merapah is land held by the "Mumpa" clan, the major spokespersons for which are Rosie Ahlers and her younger brother, Banjo Woompoo Kepple.

Aboriginal people were involved in the development of the station even before the land was converted to pastoral use, having worked with Fred Kepple on his sandal wood operation. In a letter to ATSIC Commissioner O'Shane on the 16th of October 1989, Banjo Woompoo Kepple states:

....Our people have had a hard history. Our people were poisoned and killed in that area.

Many of the "Mumpa" people were born on the property and there are graves of various family members located at points throughout the station. While Aboriginal people were employed in the pastoral industry for many decades, large numbers of Aboriginal stockmen were no longer tolerated by station owners, after the introduction of pastoral awards in the 1960's. It was at this time that most of the traditional owners were required to leave Merapah, and took up residence in Coen.

Several representations were made by "Mumpa" clan members to the Commonwealth Government to purchase Merapah on their behalf when it became available on the market in the latter part of 1989. Early in 1990, negotiations were completed between the vendors and ATSIC and the property was purchased on behalf of the traditional owners. The transfer of the leasehold to Aboriginal ownership is a historically unprecedented event in Queensland. Previously, the Queensland Government have refused to transfer leases to Aboriginal groups on the basis that this would somehow constitute a form of "separate development".

Prior attempts to purchase leasehold properties for Aboriginal people have either been thwarted (Archer Bend is an example), or clandestine methods were adopted to by-pass the Queensland Government's transfer process (eg Delta Downs). Therefore the current Queensland Government's co-operative attitude has made the Merapah purchase historic; it is the first leasehold property that the Queensland Government has knowingly approved for transfer to Aboriginal people.

Merapah is strategically placed between two national parks, Archer Bend to the west, and Rokeby to the east. The entire landscape from the Aurukun Shire lease, through Archer Bend National Park and Merapah, to Rokeby, is Mungkan Country, a continuous line of story places, dreaming sites, birth places, and burial grounds.

In the south western corner of Merapah, the Mumpa clan's estate joins the estate of the dingo/kangaroo (Ku'ayakalba) clan, now headed by Mr John Koowarta, who has long fought, against sustained opposition from the Queensland Government, to gain secure title to his homeland. Merapah Station is thus extraordinarily strategic in providing a secure land base for the inland Mungkan people. Opportunities exist to negotiate management arrangements with the Queensland Government over two adjacent national parks, and to lobby for a change in status for Archer Bend and Rokeby to a form of Aboriginal title with lease-back arrangements to the National Parks and wildlife Service. In addition, scope exists to develop communication and transport links between the Aurukun outstations and Coen via Merapah, which would avoid having to cross the Archer River which is a major natural obstacle in servicing the outstations from Aurukun.

The purchase of Merapah Station for the Mungkan people represents more than simply the purchase of a pastoral property for a few traditional owners resident in Coen. It is in fact a major reversal of the trend of dispossession that has occurred for the Mungkan people over the last 100 years. The property provides secure title for the first time for the inland Mungkan, who are part of what is almost certainly the largest group of traditionally knowledgeable people in Queensland, and one of the largest groups in Australia.

One of the purposes of the opening of Merapah Station on June 1, 1990, was to compile a development plan to include employment , CDEP possibilities, future pastoral use ( commercial or killer herd for local consumption ), housing, essential services infrastructure (water supply, sewerage), health services, and education. Both Robert Tickner, the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, and Ann Warner the Queensland Minister for Family Services and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs were present at the opening, along with representatives from ATSIC and Mungkan people from Coen, Aurukun, Weipa , and Prompuraaw.