DETAILS of a damning report which accused prominent indigenous activist Noel Pearson and his family of using bully tactics to influence remote Cape York communities have been revealed in court. A judicial review began yesterday into the State Government's decision to grant a Cape York Land Council-affiliated group trusteeship of a 110,000ha parcel of land at Hope Vale, which comes with $6 million in mining royalties. Cairns Supreme Court heard former indigenous affairs minister Warren Pitt, who was commissioned in 2009 to assess how the money should be distributed, raised concerns the Noel Pearson-founded land council was bullying residents. It was also alleged that the land council wanted a fee of 10 percent to be allocated to it from the royalties, which are associated with the Cape Flattery silica mine, for assisting with the trustee appointment.
