DARUK LOCAL ABORIGINAL LAND COUNCIL v THE MINISTER ADMINISTERING THE CROWN LANDS ACT [1992] NSWCA 54

DARUK LOCAL ABORIGINAL LAND COUNCIL v THE MINISTER ADMINISTERING THE CROWN LANDS ACT

SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COURT OF APPEAL

MAHONEY JA 19 October 1992 [1992] NSWCA 54

Mahoney JA This is an application which comes before the court for expedition of a claim which has been made to the Minister and subsequently dealt with in the Land and Environment Court. It is said that there is an appeal only on questions of law.

The claim is based - I put the matter in general terms - upon the claim that when this Court decided the construction of relevant provisions of the legislation in the Minister Administering the Crown Lands Act v Tweed Byron Local Aboriginal Lands Council (19 March 1992) it stated the matter either inaccurately or in such a way as has been misunderstood by the Minister and/or the Land and Environment Court in the application of that decision.

The appeal in the present matter would in the ordinary course not come on for some months. There are a number of matters pending and it is desired to have the correction or clarification of the decision in the Tweed Byron case achieved as soon as practicable. The Minister, taking the attitude that the expedition is a matter for the court, has pointed to the fact that an appeal lies only on a question of law, that it will be contended that in this case the issues raised are merely issues of fact and, as I infer, that the present case may therefore not be an appropriate case to deal with the issues involved.

Thave put to Mr Wright, who appears for the Land Council, the difficulty that is involved. It would be pointless if this matter were expedited and then, when the matter came before this Court, the matter dealt with essentially issues of fact or issues of law based upon particular facts so that the issues of general principle relied on in this application were not effectively dealt with or the court did not feel disposed to give leave to reargue the Tweed Byron case in accordance with the ordinary principles adopted in that regard.