Indigenous land agreements (McGlade Decision)
1. The Full Court of the Federal Court in February 2017 set a precedent that Indigenous land agreements (ILUAs) were invalid unless they were endorsed by every representative party to a native title claim over the affected area.
2. The federal Government introduced a bill to abrogate the legal principle established by the Federal Court because, according to federal attorney-general George Brandis, the decision of the Court “had not been anticipated.” The abrogation had bipartisan support, but some MPs voted against it.
3. The 2017 legislation overrides the case law established by the Full Court of the Federal Court in February 2017– parliamentcan abrogatethe common law by passing an act on the same issue and stating the law differently.