ABSTRACT
Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd (1971) 17 FLR 141 was the first case on native title in Australia. The Yolngu people brought an action against Nabalco Pty Ltd, claiming they enjoyed sovereign rights over lands in the Gove Peninsula in the Northern Territory, which had been obtained by Nabalco from the Federal Government (pursuant to a 42-year mining lease). They sought declarations permitting them to occupy the land free from interference pursuant to their native title rights, with the effect that they could prevent the mining from going ahead. The court rejected the plaintiffs’ claim, holding that native title was not part of Australian law. Instead of rewriting the judgment, Oscar Monaghan questions whether it is even possible to occupy the role of an Indigenous judge whilst applying colonial law. Monaghan concludes that to attempt to re-imagine the judgment through an Indigenous lens is to foreclose more radical and decolonised Indigenous futures.
