Land claim for housing

The Aboriginal land claims cover 0.75 hectares of land across three separate blocks in Mathoura.

All three parcels of land are located on a block bordered by Burnes, Lawrence and Forests Sts.

Two are at the corner of Lawrence and Burnes Sts. The third is located behind an existing property on Burnes St.

Moama LALC CEO John Kerr said he was very happy with the result and it was hoped Aboriginal housing could be developed on the blocks.

“I’m stoked and our board and community will be very pleased with this outcome,” Mr Kerr said.

“They are good blocks of land located in town so we want to explore opportunities to build more Aboriginal housing as there is an absolute need for it in this region.”

Moama LALC hopes an Aboriginal housing model being explored in Albury can be carried over to support housing on the land blocks in Mathoura.

Albury and District Local Aboriginal Land Council CEO Dennis Mirosevich said philanthropic investment to develop more Aboriginal housing at Albury was being explored through Orbit Futures, which he founded.

“We are planning to develop about 200 modular homes in Albury and will later explore opportunities for housing with Moama Local Aboriginal Land Council,” Mr Mirosevich said.

Crown Lands executive director of Aboriginal Land Strategy Michael Ramalli said under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act, Crown land can be claimed by Local Aboriginal Land Councils if it meets statutory criteria, including not being needed for an essential public purpose.

“The land rights process unlocks social and economic benefits for Aboriginal communities by returning land,” Mr Ramalli said.

Since the Aboriginal Land Rights Act commenced in 1983, the NSW Government has granted or part-granted 3,885 Aboriginal land claims with 164,032 hectares of land transferred to the ownership of Aboriginal Land Councils.

So far for 2021/22, 443 Aboriginal land claims have been granted or part-granted which is the highest number of grants since the Act commenced.