Registrar of Aboriginal Corporations v Murnkurni Women's Aboriginal Corporation

The matter before the Federal Court of Australia was an application by the Registrar of Aboriginal Corporations to wind up the Murnkurni Women's Aboriginal Corporation ("Murnkurni"). The Registrar sought the winding up order on the basis that it was in the public interest and in the interests of the members of the Association. The application was made under the Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976. Murnkurni did not appear at the hearing and the Court ordered that it be wound up. Subsequently, Murnkurni applied to set aside the winding up order and to stay the operation of that order pending an appeal to the Full Court. The legal issues before the Court were whether the winding up order should be set aside under FCR O35 r7(2)(a), and whether there were arguable matters in defence of the winding up order. The Court found that Murnkurni had a satisfactory explanation for its non-appearance at the hearing and that there were arguable matters in its defence, including issues concerning the service of a Notice under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Act 1989 and the contestability of the breaches of grant conditions on which the Notice was based. The Court also found that there were arguable matters concerning Murnkurni's solvency and access to its books and records. The Court concluded that the application to set aside the winding up order should be granted. The Court ordered that the winding up order be set aside and that both parties and Mr Robson have liberty to apply in respect of paragraph 2 of the order. The Court also ordered that the applicant file written submissions on the issue of the costs of the notice of motion and that the respondent file written submissions in respect of the costs orders. The Court dismissed the notice of motion and granted the appellant leave to discontinue its appeal.