New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council v Minister Administering the Crown Land Management Act 2016 [2024] NSWCA 294

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council v Minister Administering the Crown Land Management Act 2016 [2024] NSWCA 294 Hearing dates: 2 December 2024 Decision date: 11 December 2024 Before: Adamson JA at [1]; Stern JA at [72]; Preston CJ of LEC at [73] Decision: (1) Allow the appeal. (2) Set aside the orders made by Pepper J on 23 April 2024. (3) Order the Minister Administering the Crown Land Management Act 2016 (NSW) to transfer to the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council Lot 3 in Deposited Plan 1001659 within 90 days of the date of this order. (4) Order the respondent to pay the costs of the appellant of the proceedings in this Court and in the Land and Environment Court. Catchwords: LAND LAW — Indigenous land rights — Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW) — claimable Crown lands — where primary judge found land was not claimable Crown lands under s 36(1)(c) because it was needed for an essential public purpose — whether primary judge applied s 36(1)(c) erroneously— where primary judge failed to address the absence of decision of executive government that the land was needed for a particular purpose — where primary judge identified essential public purpose as education provided by private community college — whether primary judge's conclusion was legally unreasonable APPEALS — right of appeal — scope of right — error of law — where appeal from decision from Land and Environment Court only lies on question of law — whether appeal grounds raise questions of law — where grounds allege error in primary judge's application of s 36(1)(c) of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW) Legislation Cited: Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW), s 36 Crown Land Management Act 2016 (NSW), s 3.42 Crown Lands Consolidation Act 1913 (NSW), s 233 Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (NSW), ss 19, 57 Public Trusts Act 1897 (NSW) Cases Cited: Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council v Minister Administering the Crown Land Management Act 2016 (2022) 110 NSWLR 535; [2022] NSWCA 275 Kudrynski v Orange City Council [2024] NSWCA 33 Minister Administering the Crown Lands Act v La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council (2012) 193 LGERA 276; [2012] NSWCA 359 Minister Administering the Crown Lands Act v New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council [2016] NSWCA 253 Minister for Immigration and Citizenship v Li (2013) 249 CLR 332; [2013] HCA 18 Wingfoot Australia Partners Pty Ltd v Kocak (2013) 252 CLR 480; [2013] HCA 43 Category: Principal judgment Parties: New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council (Appellant) Minister Administering the Crown Land Management Act 2016 (Respondent) Representation: Counsel: M Wright SC / O Jones (Appellant) R Graycar / Y Wong (Respondent)