Court quashes removal of Indigenous heritage zone after Queensland government U-turn
Supreme Court finds traditional owners were denied a reasonable opportunity to be heard in decision to lift 100m buffer around cultural sites
The Queensland Supreme Court has overturned a Land Court decision to remove a 100-metre Indigenous heritage protection zone for a gold mining project in Cape York, after finding that the traditional owners had been denied a fair hearing and that the department’s joint submission was at odds with its earlier position, which the judge described as “surprising”.