Wilson v State of South Australia (No 2)

In the Federal Court of Australia, the case of Wilson v State of South Australia (No 2) involved an application under section 66B of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) to replace the original applicants in a native title proceeding. The original applicants had either passed away or were no longer authorised by the Wirangu No 2 Native Title Claim Group to continue with the application. The Replacement Applicants sought to replace the original applicants and to deal with all matters arising in relation to the application.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Replacement Applicants were entitled to replace the original applicants under section 66B(1) of the Native Title Act 1993. The court considered whether the original applicants were deceased or no longer authorised by the claim group to proceed with the application, and whether the Replacement Applicants had been properly authorised by the claim group to replace them. The court also needed to exercise its discretion under section 66B(2) to decide whether to grant the application.

The court found that all of the original applicants were deceased, and that Ms Wilson, the sole surviving original applicant, had indicated that she no longer wished to be the named applicant. The court was satisfied that the Replacement Applicants had been properly authorised by the claim group to replace the original applicants. The court considered that it was undesirable for there to be no live applicants and that the proceedings had effectively been at a standstill due to the delay in obtaining legal representation. The court also noted that the Replacement Applicants had been authorised by the claim group to be the applicants and that it was highly desirable that they be granted the application. The court therefore granted the application and ordered that the Replacement Applicants jointly replace the original applicants in the proceeding.

The final orders of the court were that the Replacement Applicants replace the original applicants in the proceeding, that the heading of the claimant application be amended to reflect the names of the Replacement Applicants, and that the interlocutory applications filed by Ms Wilson be dismissed.