Twelve years of persistence has paid off for Trevor Close, the Githabul native title claimant, with the New South Wales Government coming to an agreement with the Githabul tribal nation on native title rights for areas of northern NSW, including Bookookoorara Forest north of Tenterfield.

The claim was first lodged in the federal court in 1995 for an area of 1,120 square kilometres. This area covers nine national parks and 13 state forests.

Trevor Close headed the enormous effort to have these areas recognised and was happy with the outcome.

“The mountains are powerful spiritual beings and they are spiritually significant to us. We had 20 affidavits that came to the conclusion that the Githabul tribal nation has a strong connection to the area,” he said.

“I am very happy with the result. The process has been complex, and the hardest journey. We have now formed a long term partnership with the NSW government and I see a brilliant future ahead of us.”

The application itself has been a rigorous process. Mr Close was faced with the NSW government’s Credible Evidence Test to prove the Githabul tribal nation’s connection to the land. Some of the evidence that had to be provided included linguistic, musicological, archaeological and historical.

Githabul elders who were witnesses to provide evidence to the application died over the 12 year period.

Mr Close said, “Witnesses have died over the years, and because it’s specialist litigation, elders that were witnesses could prove the connection to the land. It breaks your heart when they die. We have a deep rapport with the elders.”

Although there have been losses, this has been a gain for the Githabul tribal nation. The Githabul people are planning to conserve the area and have big plans for protecting the natural biodiversity.

“We are going to try to establish wildlife corridors in the area. There is so much rainforest in the mountains and we want to extend the biodiversity to the flatlands. This will also help farmers in obtaining carbon credits to obtain a stable income,” Mr Close explained.

Mr Close received support from the Canadian government for the native title application.

There have been similar situations in Canada.

“The Canadian government has supported me through this all. They provided financial support, moral support and legal support. I approached them in 1995 because they had similar native title claims to ours,” Mr Close said.

“I went on a quick trip to Canada and stopped in New Zealand and Fiji. I was able to compare our claim with the Native American and the Maori peoples claims.”

Mr Close is now waiting for the Queensland government to negotiate on areas that lie on the border with that state. He says that this agreement will also provide employment opportunities to the Githabul people.