Traditional Owners of Jangirulu, Bamayu and Walanypirri clan groups have reached a historic 70 year agreement with SunCable, the company looking to build Australia's largest solar farm.
"This is huge and we believe this project is going to really lift our Barkly region up," Pamayu/Bamayu woman, Mary Noonan said.
Walanypirri Traditional Owner Peter Henderson said he hopes the agreement paves the way for other Traditional Owner groups to do business in the same way.
“Culture and Country is really important to us. This deal shows how strong our Native Title is," Mr Henderson said.
“We hope other TOs can also stand together and negotiate agreements to bring business on their country, just like us," he said.
'Strengthening self-determination'
SunCable first approached the Northern Land Council in 2019, and soon after engaged with Traditional Owners about its interests in parts of Powell Creek Station.
In 2022 SunCable identified the land area it wanted to use, and negotiations began with Traditional Owners about options for a land use agreement.
The Northern Land Council facilitated negotiations between SunCable and more than 200 Traditional Owners from the land use area.
“It sends a clear message that the Northern Territory is open for business," Northern Land Council Chairman Matthew Ryan told NITV News.
“This is about strengthening self-determination, building sustainable communities, and contributing to the long-term economic viability of the Northern Territory," Mr Ryan said.
"Aboriginal Territorians are leading the way by participating in genuine engagement with big business."
Northern Land Council Chairman Matthew Ryan and SunCable Chief Executive Officer Ryan Willemsen-Bell. Source: Emma Kellaway
Powering the NT and beyond
The deal will see a 12,000 hectare solar farm built on Powell Creek Station, around 70 kilometers southwest of Elliott in the Barkly region of the Northern Territory.
The location's consistently sunny conditions and flat terrain provide maximum potential for solar energy production.
It brings SunCable's ambitious plan to connect Australia's solar power network to south-east Asia one step closer to becoming a reality.
Suncable plans to deliver energy from the Barkly Region in the Top End to markets as far as Singapore, via a 43-hundred kilometre subsea cable.
The project, backed by tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brooks - is also expected to provide a 20 billion dollar economic boost to the territory.
"It is tremendously important that resources such as the one here in the Barkley that can be used to generate clean electricity that can be used to power the future," SunCable CEO Ryan Willemsen-Bell said.
Bolstering the local economy
Elliott, a small town off the Stewart Highway home to around 300 people, is known as the midway point between Darwin and Alice Springs by 700 kilometers each way.
Around 85 per cent of the town's population is Indigenous.
Traditional Owners hope the deal will bring economic benefits to the community and surrounding homelands for generations to come.
"There is so many business potentials that can be part of our Elliott, its like it is lying dormant at the moment waiting to be opened like a shell," Glenice Grieve Pamayu/Bamayu woman said.
"This project is 70 years, its something we won't see out but our children, our grandchildren will all benefit from this project going ahead."
"We will continue to negotiate with them with the possibility of employment and jobs," Ms Grieve said.
Glenice Grieve and her cousin Mary Noonan from the Bamayu/Pamayu clan group. Source: Emma Kellaway
"It's a very comprehensive benefits agreement, it does incorporate skills, training, employment, protection of the local environment," SunCable CEO Ryan Willemsen-Bell said.
But when asked for more details Mr Willemsen-Bell said the numbers would be kept confidential to those involved.
"I'd rather that we keep exactly what's in the agreement confidential to the Native Titile holders and SunCable," he said.
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