Yarmirr, Mary & Ors v The Northern Territory of Australia & Ors [1998] FCA 771

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

CATCHWORDS

ABORIGINES- Native title - Native Title Act1993 - extension to waters over which Australia asserts sovereignty - common law recognition of off-shore native title rights and interests.

ABORIGINES - Native title - claim to ownership and exclusive possession, occupation, use and enjoyment of the sea and its resources .

ABORIGINES - Native title - effect of legislative and administrative acts on native title rights to fish, hunt and gather.

ABORIGINES - Native title - native title rights to sea and sea-bed - inconsistency with rights of leaseholder.

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (NT) - seaward boundaries of Territory - location of low water mark - identification of bays and gulfs.

EVIDENCE - native title - proof of descent from indigenous inhabitants - proof of traditional laws and customs - use of historical and ethnographical material - evidentiary value of anthropological report.

Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (Cth) s 3;

Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth) s 15B;

Atomic Energy Act 1953 (Cth);

Atomic Energy (Control of Minerals) Act 1946 (Cth);

Coastal Waters (Northern Territory Title) Act 1980 (Cth);

Continental Shelf (Living Natural Resources) Act 1968 (Cth);

Crown Lands Act (NT);

Evidence Act 1995 (Cth) ss 73, 74;

Fisheries Act 1878 (SA);

Fisheries Act 1904 (SA);

Fisheries Act 1952 (Cth);

Fisheries Act 1988 (NT);

Fisheries Amendment Act 1980 (Cth) s 11;

Fish and Fisheries Act 1979 (NT);

Fisheries Management Act 1991 (Cth);

Fisheries Ordinance 1911;

Fisheries Ordinance 1949; Fisheries Ordinance 1965; Fisheries Ordinance 1972; Minerals (Acquisition) Ordinance 1953; Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) ss 3, 6, 10, 13, 17, 23, 26-44, 62, 81, 82, 213, 223, 235, 238, 253; Northern Territory Crown Lands Act 1890 (SA); Northern Territory Land Act 1872; Northern Territory (Self Government) Act 1978 (Cth); Offshore Waters (Application of Territory Laws) Act 1985 (NT) s 3; Pearl Fisheries Act 1952 (Cth); Pearling Ordinance 1930; Pearling and Pearl Culture Ordinance 1964; Petroleum (Prospecting and Mining) Ordinance 1954; Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 (Cth) ss 7, 10, 11, Schedule 1; Validation of Titles and Actions Act 1994 (NT). A. Raptis & Son v South Australia 138 CLR 346 Appl; Attorney-General (UK) v Chambers (1854) 4 De GM & G 206 (43 ER 486) Appl; Attorney-General (NT) v Maurice 161 CLR 475 Appl; Bowen v Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning (1996) 90 LGERA 368 Appl; Blundell v Catterall (1821) 5 B & Ald 218 (106 ER 1190) Appl; Delap v Hayden (1923) 4 DLR 1102 Appl; Eaton v Yanner; ex parte Eaton, Qld Court of Appeal, unreported, 27 February 1998, Refd; Harper v Minister for Sea Fisheries 168 CLR 314 Appl; Mabo v The State of Queensland 175 CLR 1 Appl; Minister for Primary Industries and Energy v Davey (1993) 119 ALR 108 Appl; New South Wales v The Commonwealth 135 CLR 337 Appl; Reg v Keyn (1876) 2 Ex. D 63 Appl; The Wik Peoples v The State of Queensland and others 187 CLR 1 Appl; Western Australia v Ward 76 FCR 492 Refd. MARY YARMIRR AND OTHERS v THE NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA AND OTHERS DG NO 6001 OF 1996 OLNEY J DARWIN 6 JULY 1998