Satirical website The Betoota Advocate has long kept readers amused with their tongue-in-cheek takes on the latest news.
Named for a remote south-west Queensland town, the site has brought far more attention to Betoota than otherwise might have been the case, except for the annual Horse and Motorbike Gymkhana, and the Betoota Races.
But now the town has a much greater purpose, following a historic land handback ceremony this week.
97 hectares of land were transferred to the Mithaka people's ownership by the Queensland government, and will be used by the Traditional Owners to preserve and practice culture.
While the Mithaka were granted Native Title over more than 33,000 square kilometres in 2015, the Betoota land parcel will become freehold owned, imparting full rights to decide what happens with the land.
Traditional Owner Joshua Gorringe said the land, about 140km east of Birdsville and near the South Australian border, would be an important base for future generations.
“The biggest thing for us is it gives us somewhere to call our own,” Mr Gorringe said.
“We’ve got great ambitions for this land. At the moment we are just doing baby steps, but hopefully in the future we can get houses on it and set it up as a keeping place for our history and culture.”
Mr Gorringe said the land would also be used as a home base for their youth camps, which are held on country and involve teaching school aged Mithaka kids their history and connection to country.
“We take our kids out to cultural sites and tell stories of our history, but we also go fishing, have art days and cook some bush tucker,” he said.
“This land gives us a base, right now there aren’t many facilities so hopefully we can set up toilets and showers for the camps.
“It will also be used by our Mithaka rangers, who travel across the country to ensure the protection of our cultural heritage sites.”
