Margarula v Minister for Resources and Energy

Margarula and others (the applicants) sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Resources and Energy (the respondent) to grant a mining lease. The applicants, who were Indigenous Australians, argued that the Minister had failed to adequately consider their native title rights and interests when making the decision. The matter came before the High Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the Minister, in granting the mining lease, had fulfilled the statutory obligation to take into account the potential impact on the native title rights and interests of the applicants. This involved an examination of the relevant provisions of the *Native Title Act 1993* (Cth) and the *Mining Act 1992* (NSW), and the extent to which the Minister's decision-making process had properly incorporated considerations of native title.

Gaudron and Hayne JJ held that the Minister's decision was vitiated by a failure to properly consider the applicants' native title rights. Their Honours found that the evidence before the Minister did not demonstrate that the potential impact on native title had been given the weight required by the legislation. The statutory scheme mandated a substantive consideration of native title, not merely a perfunctory acknowledgement. The Court concluded that the Minister had erred in law by failing to undertake the necessary assessment of the impact on native title before granting the lease.

The High Court ordered that the decision of the Minister to grant the mining lease be quashed.