Rangelea Holdings - Facts
Background
Adnyamathanha people, in the main, opposed the Beverley Uranium mine and they fought against it. This included protests on site, where some of our people were pepper sprayed and manhandled by Police. However, this mine was going to happen and Native Title does not give us any rights to stop mines, there is no veto, it only gives us negotiation rights. Therefore, we were forced into negotiations for this mine.
Rangelea was set up by the Adnyamathanha people, before
ATLA was even a Prescribe Body Corporate (PBC). Due to the fact that there were four different mining agreements with Heathgate Resources, that lead to mediation to enable them to be rolled into one agreement. These agreements were with Gordon Coulthard, Mark McKenzie and Geraldine Anderson and Adnyamathanha Native Title Management Committee.
At the time, there were a number of different Native Title Claims and the different groups were doing their own thing and we needed to come together as one, for our Native Title to be successful.
For us to achieve this, we had to go through a mediation process, with the help of the Federal
Court and the Native Title Tribunal. The outcomes of this mediation was then presented at two Community meetings, one at Copley and one at Port Augusta. It was agreed at these meetings to roll the small claims into one Adnyamathanha Native Title Claim and to have all Beverley mining agreements rolled into one. And that is how the Adnyamathanha Master Trust came into being and Rangelea Holdings was set up to distribute the funds as Trustee.
It was agreed these funds would be distributed under the terms of the Trust, to the Adnyamathanha people.
Central to our Native Title Claim we had to prove that we maintained connection to our country.
At that Copley meeting, when Granny Gertie heard there was to be a meeting in Port Augusta, she moved a motion, that when we are discussing country, we must hold the meetings on our own country. This was the traditional way for Adnyamathanha to conduct their business and it was wrong to do this on other Yura’s yarta. This was seconded by and heavily supported by all the
Elders in the meeting and therefore was passed unanimously, this has been our practice ever since.
The people who did all the hard work in the early days, (all the way through to the Consent Determination in 2009), are pictured below, many of them were on a pension and did it with very minimal assistance. They were recorded as the Named Applicants for Adnyamathanha Native Title. The families have given us permission to use the photos of their family members who have passed away.
The current directors of Rangelea Holdings are:-
Lynlee Smans – Chair, Geraldine Anderson, Vince Coulthard, Angelina Stuart,
Sandra Coulthard, Kelvin Johnson, Beverley Patterson, Mick McKenzie
Adnyamathanha people are a part of a subgroup headed up by one of these people. People can transfer between sub groups and this has always been a provision of the Trust, if people aren’t happy in the group they are with, they can transfer to one of the other groups.
In order to get onto the list, people must apply through the proper process by filling in the application form. So when babies are born you must send an application form to Rangelea, just the same as you need to do paperwork for Centrelink for a new baby. Rangelea has an advisory committee as required by the Trust. It deals with all applications, and generally this happens twice a year but as a minimum once a year in recent times subject to COVID restrictions.
The Advisory Committee also deals with the removal of people who have passed away. However, it has always been the practice that their family would receive a last payment after their passing. Rangelea also has a funeral fund that assists all Adnyamathanha families in their time of grief, it has also in the past supported cultural camps as well.
There are currently nearly 3000 Adnyamathanha people.
The subgroups have the following numbers of members
|
Vince Coulthard |
1762 |
|
Beverley Patterson |
397 |
|
Lynlee Smans |
204 |
Angelina Stuart |
174 |
|
|
Mick McKenzie |
160 |
Kelvin Johnson |
97 |
|
|
Geraldine Anderson |
80 |
|
Sandra Coulthard |
34 |
The money received by Rangelea Holdings is from Heathgate for compensation for the Beverley mine. Rangelea then puts money aside for admin and also for the funeral fund and the rest is then distributed to the sub groups on the basis of the same amount being paid for each person (per capita).
The amount paid by Heathgate has been up and down over the years due to the price of uranium and also the American dollar versus the Australian Dollar. There were some times when Rangelea did not get enough to distribute anything at all as the cost of distribution was more than the money available.
Since the Four Mile Mine has been working the amounts have been higher, so for the last few years it has been about $300,000 a month.
If you divide $300,000 by the 3000 Adnyamathanha, then that means that there is about $600 each, every six months. But out of that has to come the admin and the funeral fund. Therefore, about $500 per person, every six months has been paid to the sub groups, for the past few years.
It is up to the sub groups how they pay out the funds. There are many reasons why people get differing amounts, some people, such as Susan Coulthard, arranged with the Rangelea accountants to get a $500 advance on her payments, then she complained all over social media that she had been under paid. But she had not, in fact, been under paid, she had just had her advance deducted. Due to her actions advances are no longer available to anyone.
When Adnyamathanha people won our Native Title, we had to prove that we have a continued ongoing connection to our land. This is a very important part of the Native Title law and so it is very important that we do this. Therefore, some groups have made decisions to pay less to people who never return to country and pay more to Elders who have lost more by the mine being there. The payments from the Beverley mine is compensation, for loss of connection to that land as we cannot still visit that country whenever we choose to, that is what we are being paid for.
It is recognition that we have lost our rights in that area.
Fourteen years ago on the 30th of March 2009, our Native Title was granted to us by the Federal Court. Our Native Title is held by us! As we are the Adnyamathanha Common Law Holders. It is NOT held by ATLA!
The Federal Government forces Aboriginal people who get Native Title recognised, to setup a Prescribed Body Corporate (PBC), to negotiate Native Title matters on their behalf.
There are two types of PBC’s, a trust PBC or an Agent PBC and the Common Law Holders choose which type they want.
A Trust PBC holds the actual Native Title rights. An Agent PBC simply acts under instructions from the Common Law Holders and cannot act without their instructions.
An Agent PBC, must consult with the Common Law Holders before they start negotiations and then
again before they agree to anything in relation to Native Title rights. This includes mining agreements. They cannot work without the instructions of the Common Law Holders.
ATLA history
relevant to Rangelea Holdings
ATLA is an Agent PBC under the Native Title legislation, that is the decision that the
Adnyamathanha people made, that ATLA would not own our Native Title on our behalf, that we the Common Law Holders would hold our Native Title.
This means that ATLA must bring these decisions back to the Adnyamathanha Common Law Holders (all Adnyamathanha people, not just the ATLA members).
Therefore, ATLA has no right to interfere in Rangelea Holdings. Even the Registrar of ORIC said Rangelea was outside his purview, (outside his control), but the ATLA Administrator who works for ORIC, is interfering.
He has no right to negotiate with Heathgate to stop our payments from the Beverley mine.
Rangelea has called two Adnyamathanha Common Law Holders meetings and at these meetings, attended by over 120 people, the people voted for NO change to the arrangements with
Heathgate, for the compensation money to be paid to Rangelea and distributed as normal. ATLA has ignored both of these meetings and their decisions and instructions.
Rangelea Holdings took ATLA to court because ATLA had persuaded Heathgate stop all compensation being paid to Rangelea.
Then ALTA, along with Reginald Wilton, Ivan McKenzie and Sarah Taylor, took Rangelea Holdings to court. ORIC are paying for all of their court costs, however, they will not pay for Rangelea’s court costs. Rangelea Holdings did offer for Reginald, Ivan and Sarah to come and look at the books, however, they declined this offer and therefore we are still in court .
The Administrator, Peter McQuoid, has stopped Adnyamathanha payments, that is why you have not received any payments since mid-last year.
ATLA has Rangelea in the Supreme Court and we are now waiting for the court to make a decision.