Decision of the High Court handed down 5 August 2026, on appeal from a judgment of the Court of Appeal of the Northern Territory.
The case concerned the validity of a decision made on review to grant a 30-year water extraction licence under the Water Act 1992 (NT) (the Water Act). Singleton Station was granted a groundwater extraction licence for a 30 year term by the NT Controller of Water Resources for irrigated horticulture purposes. Mpwerempwer Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC (MAC), the prescribed body corporate for the native title holders of the Singleton Station pastoral lease, sought review of that decision under section 30 of the Water Act. On review, the Minister substituted the Controller’s decision with the decision to grant Singleton Station a 30 year licence, subject to several conditions which included CP 10, a condition which required the station to develop and submit a groundwater dependent Aboriginal cultural values impact assessment.
MAC sought judicial review in the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory. The primary judge dismissed the proceeding and the Court of Appeal dismissed MAC’s appeal. MAC appealed to the High Court.
The High Court unanimously allowed the appeal holding that the delegate Minister had failed to discharge her statutory function because she did not reach the state of satisfaction required by section 60(4)(b) of the Water Act that there were special circumstances justifying the grant of a licence for a term exceeding 10 years. The High Court also held that the designate Minister had denied MAC procedural fairness and that MAC should have been given a reasonable opportunity to make a submission in respect of the proposed licence condition CP10 which would allow the licensee itself to undertake the Aboriginal cultural values impact assessment. MAC’s third argument, that the Minister had failed to take Aboriginal cultural values into account, was rejected by the Court. The Court quashed the licence and remitted the matter to the Minister to be determined according to law.
The decision is important for resource companies as it reinforces the principle that statutory preconditions must be strictly satisfied before long term resource sector approvals are granted. Courts remain willing to invalidate these approvals where decision making requirements are not properly followed. Where approval conditions affect the interests of indigenous stakeholders, the principles of procedural fairness may also apply.