Having read the negativity of Slampoil and modula, I asked...

Having read the negativity of Slampoil and modula, I asked around Perth this morning and was told the Chairman of OBL was here during the week for the Federal Court appeal hearing and also that the original determination of the Native Title Tribunal adopted the OBL heritage agreement proposals that he arranged (and this can be read on the Native Title Tribunal website) and made them part of the outcome as conditions. They are detailed and make the native title party do heritage clearances only at regular rates of pay without any massive commitment payments and without the royalties that others have suffered. They also require native title party attention to matters within a set time-frame or they are deemed ok. OBL appears to have a achieved a ground-breaking precedent which other players have recognised. This is no doubt why the native title party scrabbled together an appeal, as OBL has limited the gravy train and achieved a fair process for heritage clearances which becomes a contract between the parties on issue of the permit by force of the determination if the appeal is dismissed.