Minister Administering The Crown Lands Act v La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council

The Minister Administering the Crown Lands Act (the appellant) appealed to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales against a decision concerning a claim for Crown land made by the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council (the respondent). The land in question included a former police station that was awaiting sale. The dispute centred on whether this land constituted "claimable Crown land" under the *Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983* (NSW).

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the land, specifically the former police station, was "lawfully used or occupied" for the purposes of section 36 of the *Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983* (NSW). This involved determining whether the intermittent visits by police officers to the site, purportedly to defeat the Aboriginal land claim, amounted to lawful use or occupation of the land in a manner that would preclude it from being claimable Crown land. The Court also considered whether such use or occupation needed to extend beyond a "notional degree".

The Court of Appeal reasoned that the intermittent visits by police officers did not constitute a lawful use or occupation of the land in the sense required by the Act. The Court found that the use was not substantial enough to remove the land from the category of claimable Crown land, particularly given the context of the land being awaiting sale and the nature of the police presence. The legal principle applied was that for land to be considered lawfully used or occupied, the use must be more than merely nominal or theoretical.

The appeal was dismissed, and the appellant was ordered to pay the respondent's costs in the Court of Appeal.