Traditional owners launch $1.5bn legal bid to force Wittenoom asbestos clean-up

A group of Banjima traditional owners has launched a $1.5 billion legal claim against the Western Australian government, seeking orders to remove or contain asbestos waste that has remained on Country for decades at the former mining town of Wittenoom in the Pilbara.

The Banjima Native Title Aboriginal Corporation (BNTAC) has initiated proceedings in the Federal Court, arguing that contamination from historic blue asbestos mining continues to cause harm and prevents Banjima people from safely exercising their native title rights. Reports the claim targets legacy waste from mines that operated from 1943 to 1966, leaving millions of tonnes of toxic tailings across the site.

BNTAC deputy chair Johnnell Parker said the contamination has severed access to Country, telling the Guardian: “They’ve disconnected us from that place of Country that we can’t visit anymore.” She added the impacts have been deeply personal and intergenerational, saying: “I’ve lost loved ones to this disease through no fault of their own.”

Blue asbestos is widely recognised as the most dangerous form of asbestos, strongly linked to mesothelioma. Lawyer Peter Gordon said he remembers landing at Wittenoom in 1987 and stepping onto asbestos fibre, adding: “It’s still there – it’s never been cleaned up.”

The case is likely to reignite scrutiny of long-standing debates about responsibility for remediation at Wittenoom, which has been described as one of Australia’s worst industrial disasters. While the Western Australian government has taken steps over time to restrict access and shut down the township, the legal action argues those measures have not addressed broader contamination in surrounding sites and waterways.

Western Australian Premier Roger Cook said he respected the Banjima people’s right to pursue justice. “I would prefer a negotiated outcome, but I absolutely and fundamentally respect their right to seek justice” he said, adding that Wittenoom remains “a very dreadful part of our history”.

The proceedings are listed for a case management hearing in Perth in April. For Banjima families, the legal action is being framed as both a health and cultural issue – a push not only for environmental clean-up, but for reconnection with place, responsibility to Country and long overdue accountability.