WA traditional owners back $1.3b deal

The Noongar community of Western Australia's south-west has voted in favour of a $1.3 billion native title deal.

Aboriginal activists are protesting a proposed $1 billion deal to settle native title claims over the state's southwest region in 2012 (AAP image/Cortlan Bennett)

The Noongar community of Western Australia's south-west has voted in favour of a $1.3 billion native title deal.

Traditional owners in six claim-areas backed the deal over the weekend after considering it for three months.

Under the proposal, Noongar people will surrender native title rights in a large area spanning from Jurien north of Perth to Ravensthorpe in the Goldfields-Esperance region in exchange for $1.3 billion worth of land, finance and benefits over 12 years.

The state government finalised the deal with the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council, which has represented the claimant groups, in November after five years of negotiations, but some Noongar people still oppose the deal.