Brisbane developers ‘don’t need to be concerned with native title’
The recent Federal Court decision that native title no longer exists in Brisbane has significant implications for infrastructure and property developers, according to a native title expert.
The decision came in response to native title claims on behalf of the Turrbal and Yugara people, which together covered most of the Brisbane metropolitan area.
Justice Jessup ruled in 2015 that the claimants could not prove an adequate connection to the land to hold native title.
The Indigenous groups appealed the decision, but the Full Court of the Federal Court dismissed the appeals on 25 July 2017.
However, Clayton Utz special counsel Tosin Aro, a specialist in infrastructure, projects and native title law, explained that the court went further than just dismissing the