AIATSIS releases

Holocene Pty Ltd/Western Australia/Western Desert Lands Aboriginal Corporation(Jamukurnu – Yapalikunu) [2009] NNTTA 8 Future act determination application concerning a proposed mining lease.A primary issue was whether the grantee party had negotiated in good faith.There was an in principle agreement and the grantee party was not requiredto further negotiate about agreed commercial terms. A second issue waswhether the grantee party agreed to pay negotiation costs of native titleparty. An unreasonable demand for the native title party to execute agreementwas not fatal as the conduct is to be judged from negotiations overall.The court held that the grantee party had negotiated in good faith. http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/NNTTA/2009/8.html

Quall v Northern Territory of Australia [2009] FCA 18 (19 January 2009) http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/FCA/2009/18.html

Application under O 20 r 4 for summary dismissal. The native title determinationapplication claim area split into areas A and B and earlier determinationthat no native title exists for area A because the traditional Aboriginalsociety that existed at sovereignty had a substantial interruption in acknowledgementand observance of traditional laws and customs. Issue estoppel was consideredregarding whether an earlier determination decided what the relevant Aboriginalsociety was at sovereignty. Whether this was an abuse of process becausethere was a failure to claim particular Aboriginal society possessed nativetitle rights and interests in earlier proceedings and because there wasan attempt to pursue that claim in proceedings for area B.See the National Native Title Tribunal Website: ILUAs
http://www.nntt.gov.au/Indigenous-Land-Use-Agreements/Pages/default.aspx

‘Native title litigation reform’ (2008) 8 Native Title News12, 193-195.Jason Behrendt ‘The Wellesley Sea Claim and the gap between Indigenous seacultures and native title recognition’ (2008) 2 Ngiya: Talk the Law 2, 2-16.Jeswynn Yogaratnam ‘Mabo: whistle blowing the state government on nativetitle in Malaysia’ (2008) 33 Alternative Law Journal 4, 240-243.Aboriginal Affairs Victoria. Review of the Aboriginal Heritage Regulations2007
http://ntru.aiatsis.gov.au/publications/2009/whatsnew/whatsnew_feb09.pdf

The Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 (‘the Act’) commenced operation on 28 May2007. The commencement of the Act proceeded as soon as practicable afterthe completion of the Regulations. This new legislation substantially changedthemanagement and protection of Aboriginal heritage in Victoria.Given the substantial change to the legislation, it was accepted that aperiod of operation was required before some aspects of the Regulationscould be reasonably evaluated. Firstly, the Regulatory Impact Statement(RIS) process had highlighted that the cost of the Regulations could onlybe accurately assessed after the Regulations had been in operation for aperiod. Secondly, the then Minister for Aboriginal Affairs wanted to ensurethat the list of High Impact Activities in the Regulations was sufficientlytargeted, and considered that an operational period may be needed to identifycorrections (if any) in this list. In addition to these issues, a reviewwas considered beneficial in assessing the effectiveness of the Regulationsin meeting the aims of the Act.This report sets out the results of the review of the Aboriginal HeritageRegulations 2007 (‘the Regulations’) conducted by Lily D’Ambrosio, ParliamentarySecretary, Community Development, and Aboriginal Affairs Victoria. The AllenConsultingGroup assisted with the review in terms of the evaluation of the Regulationsand the revised cost estimates.The program commences in September 2009. Rio Tinto NTRB Scholarships RioTinto is once again offering two scholarships to lawyers currently workingor interested in working at Native Title Representative Bodies (NTRBs) orNative Title Service Providers (NTSPs). Successful candidates will undertakea one-year Master of Laws (LLM) in Mineral Law and Policy at the Centrefor Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy (CEPMLP) at the Universityof Dundee and must commit to work within an NTRB or NTSP for a minimum periodof two years upon their return. Candidates must be Australian citizensor permanent residents and reside in Australia and there is no age restrictionfor applicants. FaHCSIA provides an additional AU$15,000 towards the livingexpenses of those recipients of the scholarship who are working within theNTRB system at the time they receive the scholarship. Applications openfrom Monday 16th February through Friday 20th March 2009. Further informationcan be found at: www.auroraproject.com.au/RioTintoScholarships.htm Forfurther information on the LLM in Mineral Law and Policy Program pleasevisit: www.dundee.ac.uk/cepmlp/main/html/academic/FT-LLM%20and%20Diploma-Generic.php http://www.auroraproject.com.au/RioTintoScholarships.htm