Malandaji is an important Kaanju Story Place on the upper Wenlock River. It has particular significance as the Story for ‘Lightening, Thunder and the Coming of the Wet Season’. For a number of decades core Kaanju people associated with the area of Malandaji and living at Chuulangun have been concerned about prolific and unregulated public access to the area, which has resulted in damage to this significant site. We are concerned that abuse of the area will get in the way of the ability of Malandaji to carry out its role in the Kaanju cosmology. There is also concern that people who abuse the area and who are there without the authority of Traditional Owners will suffer severe consequences under Kaanju law and custom.

Malandaji, and some 635 000 hectares of the (Northern) Kaanju Homelands,^[5] have been alienated from Traditional Owners by the imposition of a number of government land tenures including pastoral lease, National Park and timber reserve. Malandaji was imposed upon by the Batavia Downs Pastoral Holding, a former Experimental Farm Reserve now managed by the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM), and locally known as Batavia Downs. Our particular concern for Malandaji as well as our aspirations to regain control and management of our traditional homelands drove our claim to Batavia Downs.

In October 1997 a native title claim (Northern Kaanju People & Yianh People QC97/45)^[6] was lodged to some 241 000 hectares of our homelands along the Wenlock River, an area that includes the former Batavia Downs Holding and Moreton Telegraph Station. Specifically, the area of the application includes the area known as PH 43-5371, Experimental Farm. Lot 2 Crown Plan DLH5, including an area previously known as Batavia Downs Pastoral Holding. The claim has become known as the ‘Batavia Claim’. Due to amendments to the NTA the claim had to be relodged with the National Native Title Tribunal (NNTT) so it did not really get going until 2000. Under Kaanju law and custom, the Kaanju people living at Chuulangun as well as a number of families living at Coen, Weipa/Napranum, Lockhart River and at more distant locations are the particular Kaanju people from the particular area under claim.

The Government-appointed Native Title Representative Body for our claim is the Cape York Land Council (CYLC). Our claim is currently subject to negotiations towards an Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) with the Department of Natural Resources and Water the peak State government body for land tenure and management negotiations (formerly the Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM)). Moreton Telegraph Station is currently subject to annual lease arrangements as a camping ground with Cook Shire as trustee.