Mineralogy Pty Ltd & Anor v State of Western Australia; Palmer v The State of Western Australia

The High Court of Australia considered appeals from the Supreme Court of Western Australia in proceedings brought by Mineralogy Pty Ltd and Mr Clive Palmer against the State of Western Australia. The dispute concerned the validity of certain legislative amendments made by the State of Western Australia that purported to extinguish or diminish rights held by Mineralogy under a State Agreement.

The central legal issues before the High Court were whether the *Iron Ore Processing (Mineralogy Pty Ltd) Agreement Amendment Act 2012* (WA) and the *State Agreements Act 2012* (WA) were invalid by reason of contravening section 109 of the *Constitution* (Cth) due to inconsistency with the *Native Title Act 1993* (Cth), and whether the amendments were invalid on other grounds, including that they were beyond the legislative power of the Western Australian Parliament.

The High Court held that the amendments were invalid. A majority of the Court found that the amendments were inconsistent with the *Native Title Act 1993* (Cth) and therefore invalid under section 109 of the *Constitution*. The Court reasoned that the amendments, by seeking to extinguish or diminish native title rights and interests without the procedural protections afforded by the *Native Title Act*, directly conflicted with the operation of the Commonwealth legislation. The Court also considered arguments relating to the legislative power of the State, but the section 109 inconsistency was determinative.

The High Court allowed the appeals and declared the impugned legislative amendments invalid.