Weribone on behalf of the Mandandanji People v State of Queensland (No 3)

In Weribone on behalf of the Mandandanji People v State of Queensland (No 3), the Federal Court of Australia was tasked with determining the replacement of the current applicant in a native title claim. The 12 individuals who form the replacement applicant each submitted affidavits to establish their descent from one of the four apical ancestors. Although some additional evidence might have been beneficial, the court found that the meeting held to decide the replacement was appropriately constituted and representative of all interests in the claim group.

The legal issues before the court were whether the replacement applicant was authorised by the claim group to make the application and to deal with matters arising in relation to it, as required by s 66B and s 251B of the Native Title Act 1993. The court had to consider the process of decision-making under the traditional laws and customs of the native title claim group and whether it had been followed. Given the large and representative attendance at the meeting, the court was satisfied that the replacement applicant was authorised to proceed with the application.

The court's reasoning was grounded in the statutory provisions of the Native Title Act. It found that the replacement applicant was authorised by the claim group to replace the current applicant, as per the statutory requirements. The court further noted that no person appeared to oppose the orders sought for the replacement of the current applicant. Consequently, the court made the order as sought in the interlocutory application for the replacement applicant to be made the applicant in the proceedings.

The final orders of the court were that Leslie Weribone, Wayne Weribone, Vincent Anderson, Tracy Landers, Theresa Manns, Rodney Landers, Neville Munn, Leigh Himstedt, Alexandra Combarngo, Jude Saldanha, Max McDonald, and Alex Costa jointly replace the current applicant as the applicant in these proceedings, pursuant to s 66B of the Native Title Act 1993. The court also granted leave to the replacement applicant to file an amended application in Form 1 recording the changed constitution of the applicant by 5 July 2013.