The Boon Wurrung Land and Sea Council said Walton had failed to demonstrate her claim to the Boonwurrung people and to have knowledge of their traditions and customs.
But Justice Murphy noted that proof of events about allegedly abducted Aboriginal women, their connections to land and genealogy from around 200 years ago was not something easily established by official records.
Rove McManus and Tasma Walton.Credit: Chris Hyde
He said it was appropriate in such circumstances to rely on family history records passed down by oral tradition, such as Walton had described.
“I found her to be an honest witness who gave evidence which reflected her genuinely held beliefs.”
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This masthead applied for Walton’s full statement through the court but was denied.
Walton had earlier told the court her grandmother passed down Bunurong cultural knowledge to her in the form of “unusual stories” containing elements of traditional cultural lore. These included a tale of former prime minister Harold Holt, who disappeared while swimming near Portsea in 1967, being taken by mermaids.
When the case became public and she began experiencing backlash, the actor said she had been portrayed as the “poster girl” for the No campaign in the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum and was subjected to a social media hate campaign.
The application to grant native title to the Boon Wurrung Land and Sea Council is opposed by some members of the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, the state-registered First Peoples organisation for the same area.
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They instead want applications by rival groups rejected because the applicants are not descendants of the traditional owners.
The court has yet to rule on the native title claim.
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