Boney v Attorney General of New South Wales
[2018] FCAFC 218
•21 November 2018
FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA
Boney v Attorney General of New South Wales [2018] FCAFC 218
Appeal from: Application for leave to appeal: Gomeroi People v Attorney General of New South Wales [2017] FCA 1464 File number: NSD 2270 of 2017 Judges: RARES, MCKERRACHER AND ROBERTSON JJ Date of judgment: 21 November 2018 Legislation: Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) ss 66B, 85A, 203BB, 203BC, 203BF, 251B Cases cited: Bienstein v Bienstein (2003) 195 ALR 225
House v The King (1936) 55 CLR 449
Lawson on behalf of the “Pooncarie” Barkandji (Paakantyi) People v Minister for Land and Water Conservation for the State of New South Wales [2002] FCA 1517
Robinson Helicopter Company Inc v McDermott (2016) 331 ALR 550
Date of hearing: 20-21 November 2018. Registry: New South Wales Division: General Division National Practice Area: Native Title Category: No Catchwords Number of paragraphs: 21 Counsel for the Applicants: Mr D P O’Gorman SC and Mr D Billington Solicitor for the Applicants: Sam Hegney Solicitors Counsel for the First Respondent: Mr J Waters Solicitor for the First Respondent: NSW Crown Solicitor’s Office Counsel for the Second Respondent: Mr V Hughston SC and Mr C Gregory Solicitor for the Second Respondent: NTSCORP ORDERS
NSD 2270 of 2017 BETWEEN: ALFRED BONEY (and others named in the Schedule)
Applicant
AND: THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF NEW SOUTH WALES IN HIS CAPACITY AS STATE MINISTER UNDER THE NATIVE TITLE ACT 1993 (and others named in the Schedule)
Respondent
JUDGES:
RARES, MCKERRACHER AND ROBERTSON JJ
DATE OF ORDER:
21 NOVEMBER 2018
THE COURT ORDERS THAT:
1.The application for leave to appeal be dismissed.
Note: Entry of orders is dealt with in Rule 39.32 of the Federal Court Rules 2011.
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
THE COURT:
This is an application for leave to appeal from the discretionary decision of the primary judge to order, under s 66B of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth), that the second respondent (the replacement applicant) replace the then current applicant (the former applicant) as the applicant authorised by a process of decision-making, in accordance with s 251B(b), to deal with all matters arising under the Act, in relation to the native title claim of the Gomeroi people’s native title claim group.
The application for leave was argued as if leave to appeal had been granted on a draft second amended notice of appeal.
Background
The primary judge heard the evidence of numerous witnesses over a four-day trial, and viewed a video recording of the two-day long authorisation meeting held on 19 and 20 July 2016 (the July 2016 meeting), at which those members of the claim group present voted by a substantial majority to replace the former applicant with the replacement applicant.
Broadly, the former applicant argued that his Honour erred in three substantial respects, namely, first, the representative body, NTSCORP, had acted for the dominant improper purpose in convening the impugned July 2016 meeting of having itself reinstated as the lawyer for the claim group and retaining their file following the 2015 decision of the former applicant to engage a new solicitor, Sam Hegney (the improper purpose issue). Secondly, the notice of meeting was, in substance, defective on two bases, the first being that the notice was not addressed to the claim group as a whole, but rather to those members with an interest in replacing the former applicant and restoring NTSCORP to its former role; and the second basis being that the notice was misleading or inadequate in its terms (the notice issues). And, thirdly, even if the primary judge correctly decided the improper purpose and notice issues, he erred in the exercise of his discretion to order, under s 66B(2), that the former applicant be replaced (the discretion issue).
An applicant for leave to appeal must establish that the decision in question is infected with sufficient doubt to warrant the grant of leave and that substantial injustice would result from the refusal of leave: Bienstein v Bienstein (2003) 195 ALR 225 at 231 [29], per McHugh, Kirby and Callinan JJ.
The improper purpose issue
The former applicant contended that his Honour erred in finding that the dominant purpose of NTSCORP in calling and facilitating the July 2016 meeting in the exercise of its function as a representative body under ss 203BB and 203BF of the Act, was to assist the claim group following a number of requests to do so. The primary judge found that NTSCORP’s desire to retain its former role and not to have to hand over its file formed part of its purpose, but that that was not a substantial purpose in its decision to call the meeting. His Honour applied as the test that a discretionary statutory power must be exercised for a purpose for which the power was granted and not for an ulterior purpose, and that it was enough to invalidate a decision if an improper purpose was a substantial purpose for the exercise of the power. The former applicant did not challenge that formulation of the test of improper purpose in the notice of appeal.
The primary judge made his finding after considering and accepting the evidence of both the chief executive and a lawyer of NTSCORP, as to each of their reasons for calling the July 2016 meeting. Neither witness was challenged in cross-examination to suggest that her or his dominant or substantial purpose was the impugned one, nor was there any other evidence that was incontrovertible or uncontested, or that made his Honour’s finding of NTSCORP’s dominant purpose glaringly improbable or contrary to compelling inferences that would be necessary to enable an appellate court to find that he had made an error in his factual findings: Robinson Helicopter Company Inc v McDermott (2016) 331 ALR 550 at 558-559 [43], per French CJ, Bell, Keane, Nettle and Gordon JJ.
Moreover, the former applicant did not put a case at trial that NTSCORP, as a representative body, had acted in breach of s 203BC. That section prescribed how such a body had to perform its facilitation and assistance functions. While it may be possible to argue that the purpose for which an authorisation meeting was convened could invalidate a notice of meeting, there is no sufficient reason to doubt the correctness of the primary judge’s finding as to the purposes for which NTSCORP acted. Thus, the former applicant’s argument on the improper purpose issue does not warrant a grant of leave to appeal.
The notice issues
The first basis on which the former applicant challenged the notice of meeting involved an argument that, properly construed, despite the notice being addressed to the claim group as a whole and posted to all of its members for whom NTSCORP had addresses, and advertised in two newspapers circulating in the claim area, his Honour erred by failing to find that, in fact, the notice was addressed substantially to members of the claim group sympathetic to the cause of NTSCORP and those who wanted to have the former applicant replaced. The former applicant argued that his Honour erred in finding that the notice was directed to all of the members of the claim group expressly and that it could not be described as calling a meeting of only those of its members who held the same concerns as NTSCORP, and those members who, his Honour found, had requested it to convene the meeting.
There is no sufficient reason to doubt that his Honour was entitled to make that finding on the evidence. Indeed, the notice commenced, as the primary judge observed in his reasons, with the question of “Who should attend?” and an answer, “The meeting is open to all members of the native title claim group in the Gomeroi people native title determination application” (emphasis in original), before it set out complaints about the conduct of the former applicant, followed by an agenda that included item 4:
The agenda for the meeting is:
….
4. Discussion and making decisions on whether the Gomeroi Claim Group wishes to continue to authorise the current Applicant, or to replace the current Applicant. If the claim group wishes to replace the current Applicant, the meeting will consider resolutions to authorise a new Applicant on the basis that the current Applicant is no longer authorised, has exceeded the authority given to it, and/or on the basis that one of the persons jointly comprising the Applicant has passed away. If the claim group authorises a new Applicant, it will be asked to authorise the new Applicant to make an application to the Federal Court for an order under section 66B of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) that the new Applicant replace the current Applicant.
The second basis on which the former applicant alleged that his Honour had erred was his failure to conclude that the notice was misleading or inadequate in five respects, namely:
(1)its failure to describe the interest of NTSCORP in the outcome of the authorisation meeting;
(2)its failure to identify NTSCORP’s predominant motivation, being the improper purpose in calling the meeting discussed above;
(3)its assertion that registration for the July 2016 meeting would only be permitted between 8 am and 12 noon on 19 July 2016, when in fact registration was allowed throughout the two days, including of 43 registrants on the second day;
(4)its failure to state that the former applicant could be replaced for any or no reason; and
(5)its failure to state that a replacement applicant might be chosen on any basis, including on a basis contrary to that determined in earlier authorisation meetings.
The primary judge found that, first, read as a whole, as the claim group would have understood it, the notice made clear that NTSCORP had an interest, because the meeting would consider reinstating it to act as lawyer for the claim group and whomever would be the applicant going forward. That finding was open to his Honour. The second challenge cannot rise higher than the argument on the improper purpose issue. There is no sufficient reason to doubt the correctness of the primary judge’s finding on this. His Honour rejected the third challenge to the notice, on the basis that the closest margin on which any resolution was carried at the July 2016 meeting was 51 votes. He found that the former applicant did not lead or identify any evidence that any person had decided not to attend the meeting because the notice had stated that registration would be between 8 am and 12 noon on 19 July 2016. The primary judge said that he was not prepared to infer that at least 51 people, who received the notice of the meeting, were misled into not attending it by reason of the registration time that it set out, or any other alleged defect in it.
The fourth challenge does not have any real prospect of success, given that item 4 on the agenda expressly adverted to the claim group’s rights (under s 66B(1)(a)(iii) and (iv)) to decide that the former applicant was simply no longer authorised by the claim group to make the application and to deal with matters arising in it, or that it had exceeded the authority given to it.
The fifth challenge was to the primary judge’s finding that the July 2016 meeting was not bound by a resolution of the 2013 authorisation meeting, at which the former applicant had been authorised to act in a way by being constituted with 19 members, each of whom represented what were said to be each of the 19 regions within the claim area. The former applicant alleged that only one of the 19 members of the former applicant had authority to speak for country in respect of his or her respective area. His Honour found, having seen and heard the witnesses and viewed the video of the two-day meeting, that this issue “seems to have stemmed from the floor of the 2016 Authorisation Meeting”. He found that the notice was not misleading or inadequate by failing to indicate that the meeting could take a different course from that taken in the 2013 one. In any event, he was not satisfied that this complaint or any other of the former applicant’s complaints about the adequacy of the notice was likely to have made a difference to the outcome of the meeting. Indeed, resolution 9, that the July 2016 meeting passed, decided that the 19 persons to be selected as members of the replacement applicant would represent the Gomeroi people as a whole and not the regions.
Once again, the primary judge’s findings on the notice issues were open to him, after considering all of the evidence at the trial. We are of opinion that there is no sufficient reason to doubt the correctness of those findings, having regard to Robinson Helicopter 331 ALR at 558-559 [43].
The discretion issue
Finally, the former applicant argued that, even if its other grounds were rejected, his Honour erred in exercising his discretion under s 66B(2) to order that the former applicant be replaced. To succeed on this ground, the former applicant had to demonstrate an error in the exercise of his Honour’s discretion, in accordance with the principles in House v The King (1936) 55 CLR 499 at 504-505. The former applicant identified the error in his Honour’s reasoning as falling within what Dixon, Evatt and McTiernan JJ there described as follows:
It may not appear how the primary judge has reached the result embodied in his order, but, if upon the facts it is unreasonable or plainly unjust, the appellate court may infer that in some way there has been a failure properly to exercise the discretion which the law reposes in the court of first instance. In such a case, although the nature of the error may not be discoverable, the exercise of the discretion is reviewed on the ground that a substantial wrong has in fact occurred. (emphasis added)
The former applicant contended that there were several procedural defects in the way in which the July 2016 meeting proceeded, including as to the members voting and who was permitted to vote, involving irregularities in registration of voters.
The primary judge concluded that those defects that he found in the conduct of the meeting, taken alone or in combination with all of the other matters in issue before him, would have made no material difference to the outcome of the meeting. He was also mindful that the exercise of his discretion adversely to the replacement applicant would defeat the will of the claim group as a whole, as expressed at the meeting. He referred to what Stone J had said in Lawson on behalf of the “Pooncarie” Barkandji (Paakantyi) People v Minister for Land and Water Conservation for the State of New South Wales [2002] FCA 1517 at [28], namely:
I do not think, however, that the Act requires decisions of native title groups to be scrutinised in an overly technical or pedantic way. Unless a practical approach is adopted to such questions the ability of indigenous groups to pursue their entitlements under the Act will be severely compromised.
In the particular circumstances of this proceeding, there is no sufficient reason to doubt that his Honour’s exercise of discretion was open to him on the basis of the challenges that the former applicant sought to raise. We are not persuaded to grant leave on the discretion issue.
Other issues
The replacement applicant sought to argue that the former applicant had no legal status to challenge his Honour’s decision. It is not necessary to decide this question, but it would be odd if the displaced former applicant could not challenge, on proper grounds, the process by which it had come to be replaced. On the other hand, the Act does not give any vested interest, other than that of being a member of the claim group, to those who compose, from time to time, an applicant authorised under ss 66B and 251B to be the applicant.
Conclusion
For these reasons, we are of opinion that leave to appeal should be refused. In accordance with s 85A of the Act, there will be no order as to costs.
I certify that the preceding twenty-one (21) numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Reasons for Judgment herein of the Honourable Justices Rares, McKerracher and Robertson. Associate:
Dated: 4 December 2018
SCHEDULE OF PARTIES
NSD 2270 of 2017 Applicants
Second Applicant:
MAUREEN MARGARET SULTER
Third Applicant:
CLIFFORD TOOMEY
Fourth Applicant:
LYALL MUNRO JNR
Fifth Applicant:
MADELINE MCGRADY
Sixth Applicant:
LESLIE WOODBRIDGE
Seventh Applicant:
MICHAEL ANDERSON
Eighth Applicant:
ALFRED PRIESTLEY
Ninth Applicant:
GREG GRIFFITHS
Tenth Applicant:
SUSAN SMITH
Eleventh Applicant:
RICHARD GREEN
Twelfth Applicant:
ELAINE BINGE
Thirteenth Applicant:
BOB WEATHERALL
Fourteenth Applicant:
ANTHONY MUNRO
Respondents
Second Respondent:
JASON WILSON; LESLIE DUNCAN; MARCUS WATERS; MALCOLM TALBOT; BARRY FRENCH; GARRY BINGE; RAYMOND WEATHERALL; STEVEN TALBOTT; DONALD CRAIGIE; DENNIS GRIFFEN; JENNIFER BENNETT; SHERYL BARNES; ROSLYN NEAN; SHARON PORTER; EMILY ROBERTS; FAY TWIDALE; TANIA MATTHEWS; NATASHA TALBOTT; MARIA CUTMORE
Third Respondent:
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
Fourth Respondent:
COONAMBLE SHIRE COUNCIL
Fifth Respondent:
GUNNEDAH SHIRE COUNCIL
Sixth Respondent:
GUYRA SHIRE COUNCIL
Seventh Respondent:
GWYDIR SHIRE COUNCIL
Eighth Respondent:
INVERELL SHIRE COUNCIL
Ninth Respondent:
LIVERPOOL PLAINS SHIRE COUNCIL
Tenth Respondent:
MID-WESTERN REGIONAL COUNCIL
Eleventh Respondent:
MOREE PLAINS SHIRE COUNCIL
Twelfth Respondent:
MUSWELLBROOK SHIRE COUNCIL
Thirteenth Respondent:
NARRABBI SHIRE COUNCIL
Fourteenth Respondent:
TAMWORTH REGIONAL COUNCIL
Fifteenth Respondent:
UPPER HUNTER SHIRE COUNCIL
Sixteenth Respondent:
WALCHA COUNCIL
Seventeenth Respondent:
WALGETT SHIRE COUNCIL
Eighteenth Respondent:
WARRUMBUNGLE SHIRE COUNCIL
Nineteenth Respondent:
MOREE LOCAL ABORIGINAL LAND COUNCIL
Twentieth Respondent:
NEW SOUTH WALES ABORIGINAL LAND COUNCIL
Twenty-First Respondent:
NTSCORP
Twenty-Second Respondent:
RHONDA SANDOW; ROGER KNOX; VERONICA JARRETT; CYRIL LOGAN; RUSSELL DOCTOR & ELAINE GEORGETOWN
Twenty-Third Respondent:
SCOTT MCCAIN FRANKS AND ROBERT JOHN LESTER OF THE PLAINS CLANS OF THE WONNARUA PEOPLE
Twenty-Fourth Respondent:
ALTOMONTE HOLDINGS PTY LTD
Twenty-Fifth Respondent:
AUBREY ROBERT MILLS & KAY DENISE MILLS
Twenty-Sixth Respondent:
AUSCOTT LIMITED
Twenty-Seventh Respondent:
BAKES IRRIGATORS ASSOCIATION INC
Twenty-Eighth Respondent:
TIMOTHY MAXWELL BALE
Twenty-Ninth Respondent:
BERWICKS NOMINEES PTY LTD
Thirtieth Respondent:
BREEZA COMMON TRUST
Thirty-First Respondent:
BRYAN SIMMOND PIPER & GRETA MAY PIPER
Thirty-Second Respondent:
LAURENCE ALBERT CAMPBELL
Thirty-Third Respondent:
EDWINA JANE CAMPION
Thirty-Fourth Respondent:
CANALTA FARMS PTY LIMITED
Thirty-Fifth Respondent:
CORISH FARMS PTY LIMITED
Thirty-Sixth Respondent:
PETER JAMES CORISH
Thirty-Seventh Respondent:
COTTON PICKING WATER SYNDICATE
Thirty-Eighth Respondent:
CHRISTOPHER BRUCE CROCKETT
Thirty-Ninth Respondent:
CROFT EARTHMOVING PTY LTD
Fortieth Respondent:
JANE MARY DALY
Forty-First Respondent:
DANNY WILLIAM HUGHES & JEANNE ELIZABETH HUGHES
Forty-Second Respondent:
DAVID WILLIAM WICKS & VERONICA KAY WICKS
Forty-Third Respondent:
ANTHONY LLOYD DUNN
Forty-Fourth Respondent:
DONALD JAMES EATHER
Forty-Fifth Respondent:
RICHARD LUCAS ESTENS
Forty-Sixth Respondent:
FAIRBANK LANDS
Forty-Seventh Respondent:
GARY PHILLIP CZISZ & MAREE RUTH CZISZ
Forty-Eighth Respondent:
GEOFFREY ERNEST WALTON & CHRISTINE DAWN WALTON
Forty-Ninth Respondent:
GEORG ULRICH WILHELM LAYHER & PHILIPP WILHELM LAYHER
Fiftieth Respondent:
GLOBAL AG PROPERTIES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
Fifty-First Respondent:
GORDON HEGARTY; CAROLINE HEGARTY & ANDREW HEGARTY
Fifty-Second Respondent:
GRAIN PRODUCTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
Fifty-Third Respondent:
GRAINCORP OPERATIONS LTD
Fifty-Fourth Respondent:
ROBERT NEIL GROTH
Fifty-Fifth Respondent:
ADRIAN SIMON HAMPTON
Fifty-Sixth Respondent:
ALISON HOLDING
Fifty-Seventh Respondent:
SHEENA HORN
Fifty-Eighth Respondent:
IAI AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
Fifty-Ninth Respondent:
ANTHONY SIMON IRWIN
Sixtieth Respondent:
JAMES VICTOR HOLLOW & CAROLINE MARY HOLLOW
Sixty-First Respondent:
JOHN BRADLEY COULTON & KERRY JANINE COULTON
Sixty-Second Respondent:
JONATHON NOEL PHELPS & WENDY SUSAN PHELPS
Sixty-Third Respondent:
KENNETH DANIEL MALONE & JULIANNE PATRICIA MALONE
Sixty-Fourth Respondent:
KEVIN ERNEST O'ROURKE & ROSEMARY ANNE O'ROURKE
Sixty-Fifth Respondent:
KEVIN MAXWELL KILBY AND JENNIFER MARY KILBY
Sixty-Sixth Respondent:
LAHJAS PTY LTD
Sixty-Seventh Respondent:
GWENETH LYNETTE LAMBKIN
Sixty-Eighth Respondent:
KEITH WILLIAM LAMBKIN
Sixty-Ninth Respondent:
LAURELLA MOREE PTY LIMITED
Seventieth Respondent:
PHILIP JOHN LEDINGHAM
Seventy-First Respondent:
LIMTHONO PTY LTD & PRIME GRAIN PTY LTD
Seventy-Second Respondent:
GEOFFREY ERIC LOCKE
Seventy-Third Respondent:
MACINTYRE IRRIGATION ASSOCIATION SOUTH DRAIN
Seventy-Fourth Respondent:
JANETTA BARBARA MATCHETT
Seventy-Fifth Respondent:
MAURICE & CHRISTINE HILLIER
Seventy-Sixth Respondent:
WALLACE RAYMOND MCFARLAND
Seventy-Seventh Respondent:
MARK MCLACHLAN
Seventy-Eighth Respondent:
DALE WARREN MEGLI
Seventy-Ninth Respondent:
NIGEL WILLIAM MELBOURNE
Eightieth Respondent:
MICHAEL SHANE MURRAY & SUZANNE VICTORIA MURRAY
Eighty-First Respondent:
MUNGINDI BORDER RIFLE CLUB
Eighty-Second Respondent:
GUSTAVUS AIRD MURRAY
Eighty-Third Respondent:
N.W. KENNEDY HOLDINGS PTY LTD
Eighty-Fourth Respondent:
NALARO PTY LTD
Eighty-Fifth Respondent:
NARRATIGAH PTY LIMITED
Eighty-Sixth Respondent:
NEIL MCCHEYNE ANDERSON & JENNIFER MERCIANA ELIZABETH ANDERSON
Eighty-Seventh Respondent:
STEPHEN JAMES NEWLING
Eighty-Eighth Respondent:
NUNDLE COMMON TRUST
Eighty-Ninth Respondent:
MALCOLM JOHN PARRY
Ninetieth Respondent:
PAUL RAMSAY AGRIBUSINESS PTY LTD
Ninety-First Respondent:
PETER LAWRENCE PERRY
Ninety-Second Respondent:
PETER BRUCE BALDO & RACHEL LYNNE BALDO
Ninety-Third Respondent:
PETER WILLIAM TURNER & CHERIE JOY TURNER
Ninety-Fourth Respondent:
DAVID EVAN PHELPS
Ninety-Fifth Respondent:
PHILIP CLIVE NORRIE & PATRICIA ANNE NORRIE
Ninety-Sixth Respondent:
DEAN PHILLIPS
Ninety-Seventh Respondent:
TIMOTHY COLIN POLLARD
Ninety-Eighth Respondent:
R.E. INGALL PTY LTD
Ninety-Ninth Respondent:
RAMSAY PASTORAL PTY LTD
One Hundredth Respondent:
WALTER RICHARD DARCY REARDON
One Hundred and First Respondent:
RICHARD AUSTEN & YVONNE PATRICIA AUSTEN
One Hundred and Second Respondent:
ROBERT JAMES YOUNG & JASON ANDREW YOUNG
One Hundred and Third Respondent:
ROBERT WILLIAM HARRIS & JOYCE AILEEN HARRIS
One Hundred and Fourth Respondent:
WILLIAM DONALD ROBINSON
One Hundred and Fifth Respondent:
ROCKWOOD HOLDINGS PTY LTD
One Hundred and Sixth Respondent:
DAVID KENNETH SCHOUTEN
One Hundred and Seventh Respondent:
SONICA PTY LTD ALSO TRADING FOR ROSLYN UNIT TRUST
One Hundred and Eighth Respondent:
STEPHEN R CROWLEY & THERESE A CROWLEY
One Hundred and Ninth Respondent:
SAMUEL STEPHENS
One Hundred and Tenth Respondent:
SUNNYSIDE (MOREE) PTY LIMITED
One Hundred and Eleventh Respondent:
THE CUAN PASTORAL COMPANY PTY LTD
One Hundred and Twelfth Respondent:
TOM ARNOTT PTY LTD
One Hundred and Thirteenth Respondent:
IAN ROBERT TURNBULL
One Hundred and Fourteenth Respondent:
ANASTASIS VARITIMOS
One Hundred and Fifteenth Respondent:
WARIALDA SHOWGROUND TRUST
One Hundred and Sixteenth Respondent:
WAYNE JOHN EVANS & SHELLEY LEE EVANS
One Hundred and Seventeenth Respondent:
WILLIAM NELSON BAKER & MARGARET ELLEN BAKER
One Hundred and Eighteenth Respondent:
MARK ALAN WINTER
One Hundred and Nineteenth Respondent:
RICHARD SAMUEL WITHERS
One Hundred and Twentieth Respondent:
GEORGE JAMES WOODHAM
One Hundred and Twenty-First Respondent:
YARRAL COTTON CO PTY LTD
One Hundred and Twenty-Second Respondent:
YARRAL EAST PTY LTD
One Hundred and Twenty-Third Respondent:
AGL UPSTREAM INVESTMENTS PTY LIMITED
One Hundred and Twenty-Fourth Respondent:
ANGLO COAL (DARTBROOK) PTY LTD ACN 001 012 813
One Hundred and Twenty-Fifth Respondent:
ASTON COAL 2 PTY LTD ACN 139 472 567
One Hundred and Twenty-Sixth Respondent:
BICKHAM COAL COMPANY PTY LIMITED
One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Respondent:
BOGGABRI COAL PTY LTD ACN 001 787 711
One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Respondent:
COAL & ALLIED OPERATIONS PTY LTD
One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Respondent:
COAL MINES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
One Hundred and Thirtieth Respondent:
CURLEWIS COAL & COKE PTY LIMITED
One Hundred and Thirty-First Respondent:
GOONBRI COAL COMPANY PTY LIMITED
One Hundred and Thirty-Second Respondent:
MANGOOLA COAL OPERATIONS PTY LTD
One Hundred and Thirty-Third Respondent:
MUSWELLBROOK COAL COMPANY LTD
One Hundred and Thirty-Fourth Respondent:
SANTOS QNT PTY LTD; EASTERN ENERGY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD; EASTERN STAR GAS LTD; HILLGROVE ENERGY PTY LTD; NARRABRI POWER PTY LTD; SANTOS WILGA PARK PTY LTD; BETEL GAS PTY LTD; EASTERN STAR OPERATIONS (COLLECTIVELY KNOWN AS THE SANTOS RESPONDENT)
One Hundred and Thirty-Fifth Respondent:
ULAN COAL MINES LTD (ACN 000 189 248)
One Hundred and Thirty-Sixth Respondent:
JEFFREY COLIN CAMERON
One Hundred and Thirty-Seventh Respondent:
JUAN CONEJO & TERESA CONEJO
One Hundred and Thirty-Eighth Respondent:
KAYTAN INVESTMENTS PTY LTD
One Hundred and Thirty-Ninth Respondent:
AURALEE MAUREEN LILLYMAN & LILLYMAN PASTORAL CO.
One Hundred and Fortieth Respondent:
THELMA MARGARET PHELPS
One Hundred and Forty-First Respondent:
TUNDUNNA PTY LIMITED
One Hundred and Forty-Second Respondent:
KEITH JAMES BELL
One Hundred and Forty-Third Respondent:
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED
One Hundred and Forty-Fourth Respondent:
ESSENTIAL ENERGY
One Hundred and Forty-Fifth Respondent:
TRANSGRID
One Hundred and Forty-Sixth Respondent:
COPETON WATERS STATE PARK TRUST
One Hundred and Forty-Seventh Respondent:
CENTRAL NORTH LIVESTOCK HEALTH AND PEST AUTHORITY
One Hundred and Forty-Eighth Respondent:
CENTRAL WEST LIVESTOCK HEALTH AND PEST AUTHORITY
One Hundred and Forty-Ninth Respondent:
MID COAST LIVESTOCK HEALTH AND PEST AUTHORITY
One Hundred and Fiftieth Respondent:
NEW ENGLAND LIVESTOCK HEALTH AND PEST AUTHORITY
One Hundred and Fifty-First Respondent:
NORTH WEST LIVESTOCK HEALTH AND PEST AUTHORITY
One Hundred and Fifty-Second Respondent:
WALGETT RSL MEMORIAL CLUB LTD
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