Arabic version: محكمة تُبطل تصريح السياحة في لوريلا سبرينغز
According to ABC News, the Federal Court has ruled that a tourism permit for Lorella Springs Wilderness Park in the Northern Territory is invalid and directed the Pastoral Land Board to reassess the application according to law. The ruling follows a legal challenge by the Northern Land Council on behalf of Burdal Riley, Murrungun Wunubari and Mambali Walangara native title holders.
Lorella Springs is a 400,000-hectare outback cattle station about 1,000 kilometres from Darwin, where its owners operated accommodation, a bar, fishing, swimming and helicopter tours for about two decades. The property contains protected sacred, burial and ceremony sites. It has been closed to most tourists since January 2023, with only select guided tours permitted to visit.
Owners Marie and Rhett Walker applied in 2022 for a farm tourism operations permit, stating Aboriginal sites would be avoided by tourism activity. The Pastoral Land Board approved a permit covering about 60,000 hectares, as well as a water licence for extraction from Rosie Creek. Justice Natalie Charlesworth found the board had exceeded its jurisdiction by approving a much larger area than the application covered.
The judge also found no comprehensive environmental impact assessment had been completed for the full area and that the board failed to afford procedural fairness to native title holders. However, she rejected arguments that the activities did not qualify as farm tourism, finding those offered at Lorella Springs fell within that phrase under the Native Title Act. She also upheld the water licence, finding no evidence that extraction would affect native title holders’ ability to take water.
Northern Land Council chair Matthew Ryan described the decision as a “hard fought win” for native title holders. An NT government spokesperson said the government would carefully consider the Federal Court decision, while not responding to questions on whether the park would reopen.
