Indigenous truth-telling talks shift to water rights

Water Minister Harriet Shing will give evidence at the Yoorrook Justice Commission on Wednesday on country at Margooya Lagoon near Robinvale in northwest Victoria.

Tati Tati and Wadi Wadi traditional owner Uncle Brendan Kennedy will also give evidence.

Mr Kennedy has been an advocate for Indigenous water rights in the Murray Darling Basin and for cultural flows, which support cultural activities and First Peoples' rights to use and manage water.

Despite native title covering 40 per cent of Australian land, Aboriginal people hold rights to less than one per cent of surface water, according to the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.

In October, the state government issued two licences for cultural water use at eastern Victoria's Buchan Munji and the Tambo River to Gunaikurnai Land and Water Aboriginal Corporation.

Ms Shing noted at the time that traditional owners held less than 0.2 per cent of all water access entitlements in Victoria and work was under way to return water management to them.

Yoorrook, Victoria's formal truth-telling inquiry and part of the state's treaty process is set to hand down its final report in 2025.

Australian Associated Press