On a de novo merits review under s 30(3)(a)(ii) of the Water Act 1992 (NT), the Minister must apply the law as it stands at the time of the review decision, not as it stood when the Controller made the original decision. A water extraction licence decision must not be inconsistent with a water allocation plan, but the 'plan' for this purpose is limited to the matters specified in s 22B(5) and does not extend to all content published in a plan document. Conditions precedent may legitimately be used to manage uncertainty in water extraction licensing, including by deferring the completion of an Aboriginal cultural values impact assessment to a stage before significant water extraction commences. A legislative requirement to 'take into account' a factor does not require the decision-maker to have a particular level of information or to achieve a particular level of satisfaction regarding that factor.
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