Compulsory acquisition of native title
144 Compulsory acquisition of native title
The power of compulsory acquisition under a compulsory acquisition Act includes—
power to compulsorily acquire, for the purposes of the compulsory acquisition Act, native title rights and interests in relation to any land or waters; and
if native title rights and interests are compulsorily acquired in relation to land or waters, power to compulsorily acquire at the same time any non-native title rights and interests in relation to the land or waters.
To remove any doubt, it is declared that—
native title rights and interests in relation to any land may be acquired under a compulsory acquisition Act even though the Act would not otherwise apply to the land; and
all non-native title rights and interests in relation to the land may be acquired in accordance with subsection (1)(b) under a compulsory acquisition Act even though the Act would not otherwise apply to the land.
Examples—
1 As a result of the operation of subsection (2)(a), native title rights and interests in relation to unallocated State land under the Land Act 1994 may be acquired under the Acquisition of Land Act 1967 even though the Acquisition of Land Act 1967 would not otherwise apply to the unallocated State land.
2 As a result of the operation of subsection (2)(b), if native title rights and interests in relation to particular unallocated State land are acquired under the Acquisition of Land Act 1967, all non-native title rights and interests in relation to that unallocated State land may also be acquired at the same time under the Acquisition of Land Act 1967 even though the Acquisition of Land Act 1967 would not otherwise apply to the unallocated State land.
Subsection (2) does not limit subsection (1).
Subsections (3B) and (3C) apply if—
native title rights and interests in relation to land or waters are acquired under a compulsory acquisition Act; and
the holders of the rights and interests are entitled to compensation under the Commonwealth Native Title Act for the acquisition.
If the person who acquires the rights and interests is not the State, that person is liable to pay the compensation.
However, the State is liable to pay the compensation if, when the compensation is required to be paid, it is not reasonably practicable for the holders to otherwise recover the compensation.
Note—
See the Native Title Act 1993 (Cwlth), section 24MD(4)(b)(i) in relation to the recovery of compensation.
In this section—
compulsory acquisition Act means an Act, other than the Land Act 1994, providing for compulsory acquisition in relation to land or waters, including, for example, any of the following—
• Acquisition of Land Act 1967
• Electricity Act 1994
• Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004
• State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971
• Transport Planning and Coordination Act 1994.
This Act’s bill:Explanatory memorandum
The statute text is free to read above. View subscription options to unlock the case-law research tools for each provision.