Mining Leases Validation Act 1981 (Qld)

145 C itLEIt-5 I2tztt^r ANNO TRICESIMO ELIZABETHAE SECUNDAE REGINAE No. 20 of 1981 An Act to declare with respect to the validity of certain mining leases granted or purporting to be granted by the Governor in Council and with respect to certain applications for mining leases; to make provision with respect to the exclusion of the Crown from liability in certain respects and with respect to jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in certain proceedings ; and for connected purposes [ASSENTED TO 11TH MAY, 1981]

146 Mining Leases Validation Act 1981, No. 20 BE IT ENACTED by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:- 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Mining Leases Validation Act 1981. 2. Validity of certain mining leases and grants thereof. (1) Where before the commencement of this Act the Governor in Council has granted or purported to grant a mining lease over land pursuant to the Mining Act1968 in respect of- (a) an application for a mining lease within the meaning of The Mining Act of 1898 that was made pursuant to that Act; (b) an application for a coal-mining lease (which expression in this Act includes a special coal-mining lease) that was made pursuant to The Coal Mining Act of 1925; (c) an application for a mining tenement within the meaning of The Mining on Private Land Act of 1909 that was made pursuant to that Act; or (d) an application for a mining lease, a coal-mining lease or a mining tenement as hereinbefore referred to that was made pursuant to more than one of the Acts referred to in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c), (hereinafter in this Act referred to as " an application " or " the application " as the context requires), and in connexion with the application the requirements of the Act or Acts referred to pursuant to which the application was made, being requirements to be fulfilled antecedently to the grant of the lease or tenement applied for, have been complied with or substantially complied with- (i) there shall be deemed to have been, in respect of the application, compliance with the requirements of the Mining Act1968 to be fulfilled antecedently to the grant of a mining lease pursuant to that Act; (ii) the grant or purported grant of the mining lease, notwithstanding any other Act or law, shall be deemed always to have been duly made pursuant to the Mining Act1968; (iii) the mining lease so granted or purportedly granted shall be deemed always to have been valid; and (iv) neither the grant or purported grant nor the validity of the mining lease shall be challenged or called in question in any proceedings whatsoever,, whether the proceedings were commenced before or are commenced after the commencement of this Act. (2) Where in respect of an application- (a) the lease or tenement applied for was not granted or refused ; (b) a mining lease pursuant to the Mining Act1968 has not been granted or refused prior to the commencement of this Act; and

Mining Leases Validation Act 1981, No. 20 147 (c) the requirements of the Act or Acts pursuant to which the application was made, being requirements to be fulfilled antecedently to the grant of the lease or tenement applied for, have been complied with or substantially complied with, there shall be deemed to have been and to continue to be up to the time of the grant or purported grant of a mining lease as hereinafter mentioned, in respect of the application, compliance with the requirements of the Mining Act1968 to be fulfilled antecedently to the grant of a mining lease pursuant to that Act; and where after the commencement of this Act the Governor in Council grants or purports to grant a mining lease over land pursuant to the Mining Act1968 in respect of the application- (i) the grant or purported grant of the mining lease , notwithstanding any other Act or law, shall be deemed to be duly made pursuant to that Act; (ii) the mining lease so granted or purportedly granted shall be deemed to be valid; and (iii) neither the grant or purported grant nor the validity of the mining lease shall be challenged or called in question in any proceedings whatsoever. (3) In respect of an application, the requirements of the Act or Acts pursuant to which the application was made shall be taken to have been complied with, and there shall be deemed to have been, in respect of the application, compliance with the requirements of the Mining Act1968 to be fulfilled antecedently to the grant of a mining lease pursuant to that Act, where- (a) there has been compliance or substantial compliance with some of the requirements of the Act or Acts pursuant to which the application was made, being requirements to be fulfilled antecedently to the grant of the lease or tenement applied for, but the repeal of such Act or Acts or of the provisions thereof relating to such requirements has occurred before all of such requirements have been complied with or substantially complied with; and (b) there has been compliance or substantial compliance with such part of the requirements of the Mining Act1968 as corresponds to unfulfilled requirements of the Act or Acts pursuant to which the application was made. (4) A reference in subsection (1) to an application that was made pursuant to one or more of the Acts referred to in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of that subsection is a reference to such an application so made under that Act or those Acts notwithstanding the provisions of- (a) that paragraph of section 5 (1) of the Mining Act1968 commencing with the words "An application for a lease "; (b) that paragraph of section 5 (3) of the Mining Act1968 commencing with the words "An application for a coal-mining lease"; or (c) section 4 of the Mining Act and Another Act Amendment Act1974, but nothing contained in this Act is in derogation of those provisions.

148 Mining Leases Validation Act 1981, No. 20 (5) An application shall not be taken to have ceased to be an application or to have been disposed of by reason only of- (a) the applicant being a person deemed to hold the land in question as the lessee thereof pursuant to section 20 of The Coal Mining Act of 1925; (b) any renewal or purported renewal of a lease deemed to be held by the applicant as lessee pursuant to the said section 20; (c) any provision of the Coal-mining Leases Declaratory Act1972. A grant or purported grant by the Governor in Council of a mining lease pursuant to the Mining Act1968 referred to in subsection (1) or (2) subsequent to a renewal or purported renewal referred to in paragraph (b) shall be taken for all purposes to be a grant or purported grant in respect of the application that relates thereto. 3. Crown not to he joined as a party, etc. (1) The Crown shall not be joined as a party in any proceeding challenging or otherwise relating to the validity of a mining lease granted or purportedly granted, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, pursuant to the MiningAct1968 in respect of an application. If the Crown is so joined, the joinder shall be of no force or effect. (2) If the Crown is joined as a party in any such proceeding pending at the commencement of this Act, it shall cease to be a party on such commencement. . (3) No liability shall be attached to or be incurred by the Crown or any Minister of the Crown or any officer of or person-in the employment of the Crown on account of any thing done or omitted to be done by it or him in good faith in relation to the granting or purported granting of a mining lease pursuant to the Mining Act1968 in respect of an application or for any loss or damage alleged to have been incurred or suffered by any person arising out of or as a consequence of- (a) a declaration of invalidity of any such mining lease by the Supreme Court; (b) without limiting the generality of the foregoing, any thing done or omitted to be done by the Crown, any Minister of the Crown or any officer of or person in the employment of the Crown in good faith in giving effect to or consequent upon such declaration. 4. Jurisdiction of Supreme Court. (1) Subject to this Act, the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear and determine any proceeding challenging or otherwise relating to the validity of a mining lease granted or purportedly granted, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, pursuant to the Mining Act1968 in respect of an application, and, notwithstanding any other Act or law, any such proceeding shall be heard and determined in that Court only. (2) It is immaterial that the Crown is not a party to the proceeding.

Mining Leases Validation Act 1981, No. 20 149 (3) Any such proceeding pending at the commencement of this Act in a court other than the Supreme Court shall not proceed in that court after such commencement. (4) If the mining lease in question is declared by the Supreme Court to be invalid, such declaration binds the Crown and a copy of the judgment or order of the Court in respect thereof shall be served by the party benefiting from the declaration on the Under Secretary, Department of Mines, within 21 days from the date of the judgment or order. 5. Interpretation . (1) A reference in section 2 to land is a reference to Crown land, private land and reserves as each of those terms is defined in the Mining Act1968. (2) Without derogating from the Acts Interpretation Act1954-1977, a reference in this Act to- (a) the Mining Act1968; (b) The Mining Act of 1898, (c) The Coal Mining Act of 1925; (d) The Mining on Private Land Act of 1909 is a reference in each base to the Act as amended or, if the case so requires, as amended at a material time in the context in which the reference is made. 6. Evidentiary provision . In any proceedings, a grant or purported grant by the Governor in Council of a mining lease pursuant to the Mining Act1968 in respect of an application is evidence that there has been in connexion with the application in question compliance or substantial compliance with the requirements of the Act or Acts pursuant to which the application was made, including compliance or substantial compliance referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (3) of section 2 in a case to which those provisions are applicable, and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, is conclusive such evidence.