North Australian FISH FINDER forums

Fake news

When I was last up there Pajinka (the tip) was a wreck, word was that locals did it, not tourists, but we'll never know.

It has been a mess for years and it is odd that such an iconic spot is not better managed.

Vrilya Point was closed off years ago, it was a great 4WD trip to the mouth of Crystal Creek.

Further south the Skardon was closed when mining restarted, unsure if access has been reopened.

The headline by the Cairns Post is fake news (an apparent abysmal standard of journalism).

On a broader view, the management of land by the Cape York Land Council on behalf of the TO representative organisations is a bit of a dog's breakfast.

What's really going on is a push by TO organisations for more control with the threat of cutting off access without it seeming like a money grab.Similar thing is now happening with CYLC (over tourism) with reason being given as visitor degradation of aboriginal lands. Like most claims, there'll be an element of fact in that.

What we're seeing is basically a grab for resources by the CYLC from the Qld Govt to manage the problem with the threat of access closure as the bargaining chip. Sounds familar.

Hard to imagine the Cairns Post being so unprofessional and naive in not being aware of that.

I see the story as a shot across the bows of Cape Tourism by the Cairns Post on behalf of the CYLC to push Qld Govt into providing more resources or access will be cut off.

Qld and Fed Govts are keen on direct aid packages to tourism operators for covid recovery so TOs want a share to better manage likely increase in tourism numbers and any adverse effects on aboriginal land.

Not an unreasonable point of view. I guess frustration would be a factor in how they're going about it.Native Title in Qld a bit confusing?

Before getting up a head of steam about this stuff, look at what the Federal Govt's Determination of Native Title Determination actually says.

2 types of title can be determined. Exclusive rights, Non-exclusive rights or a combination of both.

Exclusive rights means that the native title holder controls access.

Non-exclusive rights means that the holder doesn't control access.

Its the threat of denial of access (exclusive rights) that the fake news is all about.

Denial of access cannot take place in area of non-exclusive rights.

The facts are that the actual tip of Cape york (with the popular tourist sign) is NOT covered by native title.

The Tip is specifically excluded from the NTA determination.

Its not surprising then, that the Cape York Land Council has now done a backflip over "closing Cape York".

They can only close areas where they have exclusive native title.

There's an accompanying determination map to show areas of exclusive and non-exclusive access.

A lack of understanding of what Native Title actually means abounds in the community and makes it vulnerable to fake news.

QLD_Cape_York_NTDA_Schedule.pdf (nntt.gov.au)

Whole thing is/was a beat-up between the Cairns Post and a couple of NTA title holders.

Closure of cape access was NEVER an option

Only way to physically cut off access to top was for the Northern Peninsular Area council to stop the Jardine River ferry from operating.

Council never intended to do that(despite sympathy for complaints) as its NPA responsibility to provide the service (Local Govt Act - Qld).

Spoke to NPA who are looking at increasing the price of a ferry ticket by $10 to offset council infrastructure costs to regulate the public areas, roads etc. Fair and simple enough solution.

As far as the camping areas controlled by native title holders (exclusive rights), THEY are responsible for looking after their own areas themselves.

The Cairns Post needs a "good pull-thru with a pine tree" to instill some journalistic professionalism.

Cairns post is a print version of the ABC.

Great detail there Ron.

Hard to imagine they would kill off the revenue stream regardless.

They didn't have any trouble closing Vrilya Point.

Pajinka is a real head-scratcher, surely could be leased off to a business to manage.

Hard to imagine they would kill off the revenue stream regardless.

They sure shot themselves in the foot with tactics.

They only threatened to close the Cape to visitors despite grandstanding about the Cape being closed.

They couldn't because the Jardine River ferry ( no visitor access any further north without the ferry) is operated by the local council (not the TOs) who wouldn't/couldn't go along with it.

The most vocal TO corporation (headed by a fella called Solomon), wanted to put pressure on the govts to supply some funds to attend to the problems.

The individual TO corporations could close access to their individual camping sites over which they hold exclusive access rights. Problems encountered at those sites were their own responsibility to sort out.

In respect of shared access places, they couldn't close those sites 'cos they don't have exclusive title.

So they relied on the Northern Peninsular Area council to close access to ALL the shared access areas by stopping the ferry. THAT was never going to happen.

Now Solomon is saying that they've re-opened the Cape after negotiations.

Face-saving exercise because the Cape was never closed in the first place.

They didn't have any trouble closing Vrilya Point.

No. They didn't (and wouldn't) because Vrilya Point is located in a TO exclusive access area. The TOs could do what they liked there about access. There may also be a land use agreement in relation to a mining lease there as well.

Pajinka (The Tip)

211 acres of land in the vicinity of the Tip was handed to the local TOs by the Qld Govt in late 2019 as freehold land under a Deed of Grant with conditions.

The road itself is NOT part of that parcel so access to the tip (by the organisation that this guy apparently represents) CANNOT be denied.

Furthermore, the whole area is NOT subject to Federal Native Title Determination.

In late 2019, there were reports of chinese interest in the area (the old Pajinka Wilderness Lodge Resort resurrection). Belt and road stuff again?

Management and administration of the peninsular is a real dog's breakfast.





https://cairnsnews.org/2021/03/21/attem ... n-tourism/

Political yes but this cant do us any favours , picked this up five meters either side of were i was fishing, didn't worry about the dozens of smashed beer bottles

Hard not to agree that this kind of stuff is the basic problem, Sullo.

Didn't see anything in the mayor's press release about how the NPA council was going to address it.

Increasing the ferry prices to get some more money to do what?