The Kombumerri Ngarang-Wal Saltwater People filed the claim on Wednesday 13 July, seeking significant commercial opportunities on The Spit at Southport, and environmental protections for areas such as Burleigh Headland that may be threatened by development including the final stage extension of the Gold Coast light rail.

The native title claim was lodged by senior Kombumerri Elder David Dillon and his nephew Anthony Dillon, on behalf of families who are the traditional owners.

David Dillon said the claim was being reduced from an earlier native title claim and took in area from the Coomera River in the north of the Gold Coast to Tallebudgera Creek in the south.

Former claims covering the Gold Coast have been lodged extending from the Logan River in the north to the Tweed River just over the border in New South Wales, with most being dismissed.

Most recently, a claim was lodged by the Danggan Balun (Five Rivers) people in June 2017.

However, Dillon said the latest claim was separate to the Five Rivers claim and was on behalf of the Kombumerri Ngarang-Wal Saltwater people.

It covered all land over which native title claim had not been extinguished by previous Acts.

“This is starting from scratch,” Dillon said.

“But what this is, in a nutshell, is to secure some environmental reserves and hopefully get some joint management over crucial environmental areas like Pine Ridge and Burleigh Headlands.

“And the other thing is our commercial aim is to develop a commercial business on The Spit that is different to what Queensland South and Five Rivers were proposing.

“What they were doing meant they would end up selling T-shirts on The Spit.

“We want something more substantial. We’re looking at our options, but we don’t feel that our future lies in selling T-shirts on The Spit.”

Dillon said the new claim aimed to give Ngarang-Wal Saltwater People greater control over the use of traditional lands, including the hotly-contested land at The Spit that remains embroiled in arguments between developers and environmentalists over its future.

“We don’t have self-determination and we are fighting to get it back,” he said.

“That’s the whole purpose of the claim, it’s to re-establish ourselves as our own voice on our own country.”

The extent of major commercial developments for The Spit, the famous peninsula at the northern end of the Gold Coast’s famous stretch of sandy beaches, remains limited under the Queensland Government’s 2019 The Spit Master Plan.

In 2017, the Queensland Government rejected proposals for $3 billion Gold Coast casino resort development, instead opting for a Master Plan that aimed to balance the competing uses of development and public open space.

Under the Master Plan, almost 140 hectares of The Spit’s 201 hectares has been set aside for park activities.

The remaining land however is available for redevelopment, but The Spit’s planning regulations dictate that all new developments would be limited to a maximum height of three storeys and 15 metres.