Save articles for later

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.

Actor Tasma Walton is trying to back away from her involvement in a native title dispute, claiming she fears for her family and her livelihood after her role in the Federal Court case became public.

Walton was the first witness for the Bunurong group, which is challenging a native title application submitted by the Boon Wurrung Land and Sea Council covering 13,000 square kilometres along Victoria’s coast from Werribee to Wilsons Promontory.

Tasma Walton arrives at an awards ceremony in 2020.Credit: Getty Images

She told the court on Monday her Aboriginal heritage comes from her mother’s side, descending from Eliza Nowan – sometimes known as Eliza Gamble – whom the Bunurong group claim was a traditional owner “at sovereignty” of the area known as the greater eastern part of Port Phillip Bay, Western Port and Wilsons Promontory.

But on Thursday, Chris Athanasiou, lawyer for Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, told the court Walton was “very distressed” after receiving threats to her and her family after media reporting on her evidence and now wanted to withdraw from the proceedings.

Athanasiou said Walton instructed him before departing on an overseas trip to seek her withdrawal because she had become the “subject of a concerted campaign from commercial and social media”.

“She fears for herself and her family, she fears this will impact considerably on her work as an actor and her livelihood,” Athanasiou said.

Walton and husband Rove McManus at the AACTA Awards in 2017. Credit: Cole Bennetts

The court heard Walton claims she has been portrayed as the “poster girl” for the “no case”.

Counsel for the Commonwealth, state, other interested parties and the Boon Wurrung group said they were not directly aware of the social media campaign against Walton.

Justice Bernard Murphy requested an affidavit from Walton supporting her application that detailed the commentary.

Walton used a story about former prime minister Harold Holt’s disappearance being linked to mermaids as evidence in the native title case.Credit: National Archives of Australia

“I’m not on social media, so I haven’t seen anything that’s been said,” Murphy said.

“I found Ms Walton a truthful and persuasive witness … each of the Bunurong witnesses, they all seem to be telling the truth as they saw it. Their evidence is helpful to your case.

“I’m sorry that those things have happened to her. Although I sympathise with the position Ms Walton is in, I’m not presently inclined to agree to a withdrawal application.

“We are mid-trial, the issues that Ms Walton raises are still going to be dealt with by this court, and it’s easier to deal with when she is a party.”

Murphy also said he was only aware of reporting about the case in newspapers and that he “didn’t see anything I would have described as misleading”.

The application to grant native title to the Boon Wurrung Land and Sea Council is opposed by some members of the BLC, the state-registered First Peoples organisation for the same area. It wants the application by the rival group rejected on the basis that the applicants are not descendants of the traditional owners.

However, an emergency meeting of BLC directors was called on Wednesday night after Walton and other Bunurong witnesses provided sworn testimony that they recognised the legitimacy of the ancestral claims of the Boon Wurrung group, contradicting the basis for the submission to the court by the BLC’s counsel.

Walton also told how, over a period of years, her grandmother passed down Bunurong cultural knowledge to her in the form of “unusual stories” containing elements of traditional cultural lore.

She gave one example of travelling to a Mornington Peninsula beach with her grandmother who told her former prime minister Harold Holt, who disappeared while swimming near Portsea in 1967, had been taken by mermaids.

Walton is best known for her recurring roles in Blue Heelers in the ’90s and later The Secret Life of Us, Home and Away and Rake. She is married to entertainer Rove McManus.

The native title case is ongoing and Murphy will determine Walton’s application when her affidavit is complete.

Get the day’s breaking news, entertainment ideas and a long read to enjoy. Sign up to receive our Evening Edition newsletter here.

Most Viewed in National

From our partners

Source: Read Full Article