R v Toohey; Ex parte Attorney-General (NT)

The High Court of Australia considered an application by the Attorney-General of the Northern Territory for a writ of prohibition against the Northern Territory Land Rights Commission and its chairman, Mr. Toohey. The Attorney-General sought to prevent the Commission from proceeding with an inquiry into the traditional ownership of certain Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory, arguing that the Commission lacked the necessary jurisdiction to conduct such an inquiry.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the Northern Territory Land Rights Commission possessed the constitutional or statutory authority to investigate and determine claims of traditional Aboriginal ownership over land within the Northern Territory, particularly in light of the Northern Territory's self-government legislation. The Court was required to interpret the scope of the Commission's powers and the extent to which the Commonwealth's legislative authority in relation to Aboriginal land rights might be affected by the Northern Territory's legislative autonomy.

The Court ultimately held that the Northern Territory Land Rights Commission did have the power to conduct the inquiry. The majority reasoned that the Northern Territory Self-Government (Consequential Provisions) Act 1978 (Cth) did not extinguish the Commonwealth's power to legislate with respect to Aboriginal land rights, and that the Northern Territory Land Rights Act 1978 (NT) did not confer exclusive jurisdiction on the Northern Territory to determine such claims. The Court emphasised that the Commonwealth retained a paramount interest in ensuring the protection of Aboriginal land rights, and that the Commission's inquiry was a legitimate exercise of its statutory mandate. The application for prohibition was dismissed.