Hale on behalf of the Bunuba #2 Native Title Claim Group v State of Western Australia

The case of Hale on behalf of the Bunuba #2 Native Title Claim Group v State of Western Australia involved a dispute concerning the grant of an exploration licence. The Bunuba #2 Native Title Claim Group sought to challenge the State of Western Australia's decision to grant the exploration licence, claiming that it interfered with their native title rights. The matter was referred to the Federal Court of Australia for determination on questions of law raised by the National Native Title Tribunal.

The legal issues before the court included whether the exploration licence grant was an act attracting the expedited procedure under section 29(7) of the Native Title Act 1993 and, if so, the scope of the inquiry into the objection to the expedited procedure. The court had to consider whether the notice given by the State of Western Australia included a statement that it considered the act to be an act attracting the expedited procedure, as required by section 29(2) of the Act. The court also had to determine the extent of the Tribunal’s inquiry into the objection concerning the expedited procedure.

The court found that the notice given by the State of Western Australia did indeed include a statement that the grant of the exploration licence was considered an act attracting the expedited procedure. Therefore, the court answered the first question in the affirmative. Regarding the scope of the inquiry into the objection to the expedited procedure, the court concluded that the inquiry was limited to the area of the grant of the exploration licence E04/2327. The court emphasised that the scope of the inquiry was confined to the specific area mentioned in the notice and did not extend to broader issues of native title rights.

The orders of the court were that the first question was answered "yes", confirming that the notice included a statement of the act attracting the expedited procedure. The second question was answered to clarify that the scope of the inquiry was limited to the area of the grant of E04/2327. The entry of these orders was governed by Rule 39.32 of the Federal Court Rules 2011.