A key court ruling on native title has the potential to be as impactful as the Mabo case and to affect the land even beneath Parliament House, according to experts.
The court dismissed a Commonwealth appeal on Wednesday over whether compensation for bauxite mining at Gove in north-east Arnhem Land might be as high as $700 million.
The late Gumatj leader Dr Yunupingu, a renowned land rights activist, originally brought the case in 2019 alongside a native title application on behalf of his people.
In May 2023, the federal court established that native title rights are property rights and their removal entails an acquisition, which must be conducted under “just terms”. This applied to land in the Northern Territory but bore similarities to land in the ACT.
The federal court determined that Gumatj land was not acquired “on just terms” before being leased to the Swiss-Australian mining consortium Nabalco in 1968.
In its decision on Wednesday, the High Court upheld the federal court’s ruling.
The judgment stated, “Native title recognises that, according to their laws and customs, Indigenous Australians have a connection with country. This connection existed and continued before and beyond settlement, before and beyond the assertion of sovereignty and before and beyond federation. It is older and deeper than the constitution.”
The decision, similar to Mabo 2 in many respects, is likely to have long-term ramifications and might influence other compensation cases throughout the country, according to Dr Ed Wensing, an honorary research fellow at the Australian National University’s Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research.
Greg McIntyre SC, the lead solicitor in the Mabo case and a former president of the Law Council of Australia, stated the verdict strengthens native title and settles concerns that land rights principles might be undermined.
The decision implies governments may be liable for higher compensation claims, potentially dating back to 1903 in the Northern Territory, McIntyre said.
The decision is a result of a decades-long battle waged by the Gumatj people.
McIntyre noted that while the decision specifically concerns the NT, it could affect the ACT, which existed after federation and thus compensations calculations would only apply from that point.
The Australian Government’s Attorney General, Mark Dreyfus, stated that complex issues remained in the case. However, the high court’s decision will enable parties to address the constitutional issues in this and future matters more effectively.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/14/high-court-native-title-ruling-may-affect-compensation-claims-nationwide-experts-say
