Native title deal for historic WA island

Dirk Hartog Island, the site of the first recorded European landing on Australian soil, will become a national park following a native title agreement between local Aborigines and the West Australian government.
The island was named after Dutch explorer Captain Dirk Hartog who left an inscribed plate with his name at Cape Inscription after arriving there on the Eendracht on 25th October 1616.
The Malgana people, the WA Government and pastoralists announced the agreement, which will give traditional owners greater involvement in managing the world heritage area, on Tuesday.
The agreement involves converting Dirk Hartog Island, about 37 kilometres west of Denham, in WA's mid-west, into a national park.
It is known as Wirruwana in the local tribal Malgana language.
The Malgana group has negotiated the co-operative management of terrestrial reserves in the Shark Bay World Heritage area.
It will receive a five-hectare reserve on the island for the purpose of teaching Malgana culture to future generations.
The Malgana people have also reached an agreement with the former pastoral lease holders on the island, the Wardle family.
The Wardle family plan to expand tourism operations on the island and under the agreement will provide employment opportunities and recognise traditional ownership during its expansion on the island.
After buying the pastoral lease on the island from the Australian government in 1968, the Wardles reduced the number of sheep and shut down half of the island before turning to tourism in 1993.