Writ issued over Fortescue native deal

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/08/18/1123958176251.html August 18, 2005 The Federal Court has issued a writ advising Fortescue Metals Group that the indigenous group they negotiated a land access agreement with now want the deal annulled. The agreement, signed last week in Perth, gives Fortescue access to 40,000 square kilometres in the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia which are crucial to the miner's iron ore project. The deal was signed with no lawyers present, which Fortescue says was at the insistence of the native title claimants, the Nyiyaparli People. The Nyiyaparli People subsequently had the agreement reviewed by lawyers of the Pilbara Native Title Service (PNTS) and decided they had not understood it and wanted it annulled. The Federal Court has now issued a writ advising Fortescue Metals that the Nyiyaparli People want the agreement declared void on the basis of "unconscionable conduct". Nyiyaparli group chairman Raymond Drage said the matter had ended up in court because Fortescue refused to deal with PNTS. "We are unhappy that (Fortescue) has put us in a spot where we have to tell PNTS to take this step - this court business is a last resort for us," he said. Fortescue's executive director of operations Graham Rowley said the company had not yet been served with the writ so he could not comment on it. "We are still very much supportive of the Nyiyaparli and we are prepared to meet with them and discuss any issues," he said. "The agreement that we have reached in good faith, as far as we are concerned, that has been negotiated and is a satisfactory agreement."

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