New subpoenaed documents reveal NSW Police’s key mistake.
Since the landmark Mabo decision, Native Title has protected the ancestral lands of Indigenous Australians. Now, one crucial area still needs protection: the water.
Seven men were facing charges of illegally trafficking thousands of abalone, which could have landed them 10 years in prison.
Six of the seven men were native title claimants, which NSW Police were told about but continued their investigations regardless. This decision has now cost them $1.89 million in defence costs.
In subpoenaed documents from the ABC, NSW fisheries and police were aware of this issue from as far back as March 2024, 2 years before trial.
Under native title law, traditional owners have the right to fish for abalone. On the south coast of NSW, Yuin man Kevin Mason fishes to feed his family and continue connection to culture.
Mason is one of many who have been targeted by fisheries. Following Eddie Mabo’s overturning of Terra Nullius 30 years ago, a case to protect the ocean was not pursued.
Now, Mr Nye, Cain Bollard, Brent Wellington, Richard Schofield, John Henry Carriage, John Nathan Carriage, and Denzel Carriage pick up the battle.
The group were formally charged with illegal abalone trafficking in January and February of 2024. Prior to this, in November 2023, officials were made aware the men were native title holders, and reminded again in February and March of 2024.
NSW Police and Fisheries continued their investigations for nearly 2 more years, despite knowing the case would likely fail and explicitly told this.
After 11 days of public hearings in a Nowra court, charges were finally withdrawn on January 27, 2026.
Unfortunately, this is just the latest in an ongoing battle to protect the South Coast.
Danny Chapman is a Walbunja man and representative for the South Coast on the NSW Aboriginal Land Council. He has been involved in over 80 fisheries prosecutions over the last 20 years.
In a majority of these cases, the charges are dropped. Yet, NSW Police are continuing to prosecute Indigenous people, such as Kevin Mason and the group of 7, just for continuing a generational practice.
Indigenous landholders continue to oppose the charges and carry on culture on the South Coast.
