Private landholders help return three Tasmanian blocks to Aboriginal ownership

Three privately owned blocks in Tasmania have been transferred to the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania, showing how community-led land return is continuing despite a long political stalemate over larger-scale government handbacks.

The properties at Collinsvale, Loongana and Mathinna are now owned and managed by the council, with ranger work already under way on one block that had been used as a dumping ground. Former owner Marianne Lovelock told the ABC the Collinsvale land needed someone to care for it and allow it to remain forest.

The return is significant because Tasmania has had no significant return of Crown land since 2005. Truwana/Cape Barren Island and Lungtalanana/Clarke Island were returned that year, but attempts to return other culturally significant places have been slowed or blocked by political uncertainty.

For the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania, private transfers have become one way to keep land justice moving. They are not a replacement for government-led returns, but they show that some landholders are prepared to recognise Aboriginal ownership and support practical care for Country.

The Collinsvale block, at the foot of Kunanyi/Mt Wellington, contains Myrtle Forest Creek and habitat for native species. The council’s Pakana Ranger program has begun removing dumped tyres, tackling invasive plants and developing water-monitoring work. At Loongana, returned forest country protects waterways and native species, while the Mathinna block may become an interpretation site with a native garden.

Land return is about more than tenure. It can create training pathways for young rangers, support cultural practice, protect waterways and enable Aboriginal communities to make decisions about places connected to ancestors and story. It also challenges the misconception that Aboriginal organisations are seeking private backyards, rather than cultural landscapes of significance.

Land return remains tied to Tasmania’s truth-telling debate, even after the state government said in 2025 it would no longer progress treaty. These three blocks show what is possible when people act, but they also underline the need for governments to build a fairer and more durable pathway for returning Country.

The private transfers also sharpen the question for government. Individual landholders can show goodwill, but a lasting land justice framework requires public policy, resources and clear processes that do not depend on chance, crowdfunding or one-off personal decisions.