Mpwerempwer Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC v Minister for Territory Families & Urban Housing as Delegate of the Minister for Environment & Anor and Arid Lands Environment Centre Inc v Minister for Environment & Anor [2024] NTSC 4 — Judicial Review — Barrister AI
Mpwerempwer Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC v Minister for Territory Families & Urban Housing as Delegate of the Minister for Environment & Anor and Arid Lands Environment Centre Inc v Minister for Environment & Anor
› Whether Minister required to provide further opportunity to respond to documents after Review Panel process
› Water Act 1992 (NT), ss 30, 71B(4), 71E(4)
Quick Take
1Under the Water Act 1992 (NT), the requirement in s 22B(4) that water resource management be 'in accordance with' a declared water allocation plan does not predetermine water extraction licence decisions; the plan is one of many factors to be taken into account under s 90(1), and the Minister retains a wide discretion as to the weight to be given to it.
2The power to impose conditions on a water extraction licence under s 60(2) of the Water Act 1992 (NT) is wide enough to encompass conditions precedent before extraction entitlements come into effect, and the 'principle of finality' from planning law does not apply to water extraction licensing.
3On the proper construction of s 30(3)(a)(ii) of the Water Act 1992 (NT), the decision which the Controller 'should have made in the first instance' is a decision under the law as it stood at the time of the Controller's decision, not the law as amended at the time of the Minister's review.
Case Details
Citation[2024] NTSC 4
CourtNTSC
JurisdictionNorthern Territory
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