THE Federal Court has recognised native title for Noongar people over Perth and its surrounds, covering an area of more than 6,000 square kilometers. Justice Murray Wilcox ruled that the Noongar people were the traditional owners of the whole claim area, excluding offshore islands such as Rottnest, and stated that they had proved an ongoing link to the land, through traditional practices and traditions, since European settlement in 1829. The ruling was part of an almost 200,000 square kilometre claim covering much of south-west WA, which has not yet been settled.