North J
This case involved the court's supervision of the resolution of a dispute between families currently comprising the Kariyarra native title claim, regarding which families are to be included in the claim group description as they approach consent determinations. Previously (9 December 2010), North J had made orders that the Court would use its discretion under Order 34 of the Federal Court Rules to appoint an independent anthropological expert to report on Kariyarra law, custom and genealogies. The applicant, state and respondent party BHP had all argued that the matter was of high enough importance to justify the Court retaining an expert at its own expense. By the time the parties came before North J on this occasion (21 February 2011), they had reached agreement on their preferred expert. The Court will now seek to engage that expert. Although North J heard that the expert's report may not necessarily resolve all the relevant disputes, he accepted that it was likely to assist towards resolution and, at least, produce evidence for any future trial. The reported decision contains the proposed terms of reference on which the expert will report.