Rangiah J made an order under s 84(8) of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (NTA) that Edwinda Chapman be removed as a respondent to the proceeding.
From an early stage of this claim, there has been an issue as to the proper composition of the claim group and whether the descendants of two persons, MiMi and Maggie Hart, should have been included as members of the claim group.
An order was previously made to join Ms Chapman as a party on the basis that she was a descendant of MiMi and Maggie Hart and had an interest in their addition as apical ancestors of the claim group. A conference of the expert anthropologists then came to the conclusion that MiMi and Maggie Hart should be included as apical ancestors.
The Court made the order for several reasons:
Ms Chapman’s interests will be adequately represented in the claim;
The applicant will recommend to the claim group that MiMi and Maggie Hart be included as apical ancestors, a goal that Ms Chapman has sought to achieve by her joinder [at 9]; and
Ms Chapman has not adduced sufficient evidence to suggest a tenable case that the country claimed by the Wulli Wulli is in fact Wakka Wakka country. The agreement reached suggests the contrary [at 11].
The Court noted that ‘the applicant wishes to hold a single meeting where the claim group will authorise the amendments to the claim, as well as the terms of a consent determination’ [at 10].