Native Title spurs Kokatha job creation
The Kokatha people are the traditional owners of a large area of central South Australia, and have recently been awarded Native Title over 30 000 square kilometres of their country. They are eager to use Native Title to create employment opportunities for their mob.
When the Kokatha people were awarded Native Title over tracts of their traditional country, their thoughts immediately turned to creating much needed jobs for locals.
The Kokatha people are the traditional owners of a large area of central South Australia, covering the land around Lake Eyre and Roxby Downs. Eighteen years after lodging the claim, they were recently awarded Native Title over 30 000 square kilometres of their country.
Andrew Starkey, one of the named applicants for the Native Title claim, is Chair of the Kokatha Aboriginal Association and saw the employment opportunities Native Title could bring to his people.
Kokatha directors set up the Kokatha Pastoral Company which sub-leased three pastoral leases in the area from BHP in July 2015. Andrew says the pastoral leases will play a significant role in the future economic prosperity of the Kokatha people.
“We currently have seven Kokatha people employed looking after the sites. The leases were run down when we took them over, so they have been busy repairing fences and controlling the numbers of wild dogs and dingos” Andrew said.
“We’ve been rotating employees so they’re dealing with all facets of pastoral work. They have been doing so well other pastoral companies are showing interest in hiring our trained staff.
“In the past, Aboriginal people were the backbone of the pastoral industry. It faded away but many Kokatha people are looking to return to working on farms,” Andrew said.
The Kokatha currently have 500 cattle in agistment (where other farmers pay to allow their stock to graze on the pastoral leases) and have plans to include 4 000 sheep in a similar deal.
One of the biggest issues the Kokatha face is trying to stop off-road users and campers coming onto the leases and degrading the environment. It’s a growing problem for the Kokatha; over Easter alone, 200 people camped at Lake Mary. Andrew has a particular interest in maintaining the environment, since Lake Mary is named after his great-great grandmother.
In addition to the pastoral leases, the Kokatha also negotiated the return of twelve parcels of land in Andamooka township as part of the native title settlement.
“This land allows Traditional Owners to build homes and we’re also looking at opening a cultural precinct in Andamooka, which would include a visitors’ centre and a museum,” Andrew said.