Claimants of the Wongatha native title claim and other claims that overlap it will lodge a request with the Federal Court for an extension of time to consider their position.  

A meeting of the claimants in Kalgoorlie yesterday decided that additional time was required to weigh up the long and complex judgement and decide their options.

The Federal Court will be asked to grant an extension of the standard 21-day appeal period to 60 days, as well as an extension of the 14-day delay in notifying the NNTT Registrar of the judgement, which Justice Lindgren ordered when handing down his judgement on 5^th February.  

“We believe the requested extensions are reasonable under the circumstances,” said Executive Director Brian Wyatt.  

“Consulting with Aboriginal people from across 160,000km² of remote country is logistically difficult and takes time. Plus, the issues are so important that after waiting five years for the judgement we feel the additional time is warranted,” Mr Wyatt said.

Media Contact:  Brian Wyatt - Executive Director    0417 970413 

David Berry – media liaison  (08) 9263 8715  0417 963089