Aborigines, environmentalists sign accord

By Philippa Stanford

BRISBANE -- Queensland environmental groups and Fraser Island Aborigines have signed an accord which many want to become the basis for state land rights legislation. (Premier Wayne Goss has said that his government plans to enact such legislation by the end of the year.)

Signatories of the accord are the Badjtala people of Fraser Island and Hervey Bay, the Australian Conservation Foundation, Queensland Conservation Council, the Rainforest Conservation Society, the Wilderness Society, Fraser Island Defenders Organisation, Wildlife Preservation Society and the Australian Littoral Society.

The accord says the signatories will seek Aboriginal freehold title to all crown land on the island, with options to lease back the land as national park or a World Heritage zone.

Groups involved in the accord said that a recommendation by the Fraser Island logging inquiry phase out logging on the island within two years would be unacceptable.

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