The Kullilli people have emerged as the buyers of the 47,100 hectare (116,384 acre) pastoral lease Thargomindah Station, in what is being described as a ground-breaking advance for native title holders in far south west Queensland.
KBRAC director Cassandra Stevens said the purchase of the traditional lands was an extraordinary win for the descendants of the Kullilli people, most of whom were forcibly removed from their lands between the 1880s until the late 1960s.
"We, the Kullilli people, can finally go home to the banks of the Bulloo River after more than a century of dispossession," Ms Stevens said.
"We are thrilled to begin a new chapter at Thargomindah Station, where we look forward to implementing our traditional knowledge alongside innovative land management and sustainable agricultural practices to regenerate native forest and heal Country."
The Kullilli Bulloo River Aboriginal Corporation paid $6.1 million for Thargomindah Station - about $130/ha ($52/acre) at an auction conducted by Adcock Partners on July 13.
Ms Stevens said the exclusion fenced property had been secured through an innovative finance partnership underpinned by carbon farming.
The Kullilli people worked with carbon project developer Climate Friendly to develop the Thargomindah Station Regeneration Project, which had been approved by Clean Energy Regulator on September 12.
In addition, Conscious Investment Management had provided the financing for the property purchase based on the income forecast from the carbon farming project.
CIM director Iain Wood said the structure of the finance model differed from other carbon farming projects with Traditional Owner involvement, which often required the property be sold at the end of a project's life.
"The Thargomindah carbon project is real economic empowerment and reconciliation in action, aligned with the Kullilli people's social, cultural and economic aspirations for current and future generations," Mr Wood said.
The Kullilli people, Climate Friendly and CIM say they hope to replicate their innovative finance and carbon farming model with other First Nations groups, and work to scale it up to promote First Nations economic empowerment alongside climate and nature repair around Australia.
