“Mean spirited”? That’s only the author’s opinion; those two words are just another fashionable curse used by people who get the huff when they don’t get what they want.

Legal? Yes; how many times do they need to hear the word ‘no’.

Given that courts have bent over backwards to accommodate land title claims (they wrongly assumed that the Mabo decision opened the door for an open slather for all claims), the Yorta Yorta judgement is correct, and it clearly showed that courts are no longer going to arrive at decisions which would clearly be wrong just because of misguided thoughts about anything touching on indigenous people.

The decision may or may not be "mean spirited" but you certainly are Leigh.

Is this no more than a declaration that the author does not accept the umpire's decision, having roundly character assassinated the court's representative, and intends to make a career of whining?

My family owned some land once in Europe, should we ask the government to continually find claims on it forever, even when the courts knock it back? Each time waiting a few years to have another go in the hope that political correctness will compensate for lack of substance.

Why does the government fund these reckless legal bouts with taxpayers money, and why do some people think it's their right to have everyone pay for what they cannot accept.

We condemn generations to nothing more than court combatants as a career, if we continue to fund these Quixotic claims that clearly would end overnight if the money stopped.

It's over, accept it and move on, please, do everyone a favor. You can have a culture without being in courts fuming and seething with hatred all your lives, surely. Focus on what good you can do with the resources you have and not on pie in the sky, "when I win the lottery" dreams.

Great article Monica. Olney J has a choice to exercise race preference and sadly he took that path against the Yorta Yorta people...not much new there, it will be hard if not impossible to make closing the gap reality in Australia because there is so much racial superiority still operative. This has to stand as the worst native title decision in Australia. I am wondering why the Yorta Yorta people have not pursued the land legally through the international forum via the Human Rights Committee.

The fault with this article lies in the title - What has native title done for me?

There is a clear choice: to live in regret and wish that 20 million people weren't here using land and water to make a living, or move on and participate in a great nation that already affords so many avenues of assistance to those with indigenous roots and links.

What can we do for our country? A question asked by statesmen and leaders of the past. We would do well to imitate their attitude.

stop&think,

Very good advice.

rpg,

Also very good advice.

Dear mikk
What is the point of your comment "the decision may or may not be "mean spirited" but you certainly are Leigh"? You can judge by her views that Leigh is "mean spirited"? Leigh is supposed to support the views of Monica unless she be labeled as mean-spirited? How juvenile.
Monica and her supporters bombed out re native Title. Not surprisingly because it was always going to be extremely difficult going from Mabo to Wik.
But no worry Monica, keep the flag flying; live in the Dreamtime and blame everybody else for any difficulties you encounter. Who knows they may even make a documentary about the Yorta Yorta people, whoever they are,on SBS. All the best.

Monica is being unduly pessimistic . What political or legal identity, with any nous, could pass up such a perfect issue on which to grandstand . There is a very real likelihood that some future govt will find the latitude to overturn this decision, however well founded and, make some grand gesture (à la “The Apology”). Grand gestures are very much in vogue and, they look good on CVs when ex-politicians are applying for NGO or UNO positions.

I caught a program on radio national a week back about a similar “land rights” saga on the outskirts of Darwin.The local council had extended the boundaries of Darwin to accommodate future development and in doing so had extinguished native title.There followed a series or hearings ,decisions & appeals with the native claimant being found-against more often than not, but continuing to appeal, appeal and appeal . Eventually a new labour administration halted all action ,defaulting the land to the claimants . The ABC as is its way, presented it as a version of Little Red Riding Hood –with the wolf being the council. But, if you’re able to see past the spin, you get a somewhat different vista – various legal identities bent over backwards to make the claim stick .It is doubtful that had the claimant been other than Aborigine they would had been allowed similar latitude.

And I have personal experience with similar latitude being shown in a claim made on a crown owned flood-reserve property in northern NSW.Having myself had a very close association with the property involved I know that for at least 3-4 generations, no Aborigine has lived on, visited, or I doubt, even passed nearby to the property– so the supposedly key shibboleth “connection with the land” didn’t apply . Yet over and above the opposition of local farmers, the claimant was granted title