"FINALLY, someone is listening," was the immediate reaction of Dawn Swan to the High Court of Australia's decision in September to hear the appeal against Singleton Station's water licence.
"I am very happy. We have people living on the land and this is their dream to stay here for future generations," Ms Swan, a native title holder for the station, said.
Fortune Agribusiness' licence to extract 40 gigalitres of groundwater a year from the station, south of Tennant Creek, represents the largest amount of groundwater ever given away by the Northern Territory.
The Mpwerempwer Aboriginal Corporation, which represents native title holders, has argued the licence will destroy too many sacred sites and the desert region's native plants and animals that depend on its groundwater.
Native title holders described the High Court's decision as incredibly important.
"The reason why we are fighting is because the amount of water Fortune [Agribusiness] wants to take from our land is too much," native title holder Valerie Curtis said.
"We're happy to share the water, but to us it just seems like they want more than enough and it's not fair on us. It's not fair on our country. It's not fair on our future generations," she said.
"This has been a long journey, and we will continue to fight for our sacred sites and culture," Ms Swan said.
The case is likely to be heard next year and, if successful, the water licence would be invalid and likely to be sent back to the NT minister to decide on again, but this time in accordance with the law.
The appeal does not stop the NT's environmental approval process and Mpwerempwer and other affected traditional owners are working with the Central Land Council and Fortune Agribusiness, the lease holders of Singleton Station, on the environmental impact assessment.
Before the assessment is finished the company is not allowed to use the licence to extract groundwater.
"We want to make sure the study is done properly so that Fortune Agribusiness, the NT government and the Environment Protection Agency hear how deeply Aboriginal people fear the damage this much groundwater extraction could cause to their country and culture," the CLC's chief executive Les Turner said.
Mr Turner said Mpwerempwer's decision to pursue the case to the High Court shows that "water rights are inseparable from land rights and go to the heart of protecting culture."
The High Court will decide if the NT Court of Appeal was wrong when it found that the NT minister lawfully granted the licence.
It will consider if the minister properly took Aboriginal cultural values into account or properly considered if there were exceptional circumstances that justified a licence for 30 years. It will also consider if the native title holders were entitled to the same procedural fairness as Fortune Agribusiness.
For example, Fortune was given an opportunity to review the water licence condition before the licence was granted. Native title holders were not given a chance to review the condition about assessing cultural values.
Ms Curtis said she was very excited the court would hear their story.
"It makes me feel happy. We want to fight for our rights, our sacred sites and our country, to be heard and for it to be fair," she said.
