An application for judicial review of a decision of the Land Court to recommend that the first respondent be granted a mining lease.
The applicant submitted that the Land Court had failed to comply with s 252A and 252B of the Mineral Resources Act 1989 (Qld), and that compliance with the latter constituted a jurisdictional fact.
Justice Applegarth held (considering the application of the decisions of the High Court in Forrest & Forrest Pty Ltd v Wilson (2017) 262 CLR 510 and Project Blue Sky Inc v Australian Broadcasting Authority (1998) 194 CLR 355) that the satisfaction of s 252B was not a jurisdictional fact. On that basis, among others, his Honour dismissed the application.
Matthew Hickey appeared for the Director-General of the Department of Environment and Science, instructed by Crown Law.
The judgment can be read by clicking here