Michael acts on instructions from the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement, the representative body in South Australia. He is the principal external legal advisor to, and counsel for, ALRM on strategy and policy for native title matters in South Australia. In that capacity Michael was legal advisor in the Spear Creek mediation of a large number of overlapping native title claims in the central west of South Australia being a mediation under the auspices of the National Native Title Tribunal but utilizing senior aboriginal men and women as a consultative body on aboriginal law as part of the mediation strategy. This mediation was a ground breaking exercise which has been successfully followed elsewhere in Australia. Michael has acted, on instructions from ALRM, for the Yankunyjatjara/Antakirinja native title claim group and negotiated the first consent determination of a native title claim in South Australia. Michael acts for one native title claim group pursuing action in the Federal Court of Australia seeking a native title determination. He is currently engaged in negotiation of a bundle of indigenous land use agreements for that claim group being pastoral, parks, petroleum, outback areas, fishing and mineral exploration as an alternative to a native title determination. Michael recently led negotiations for ALRM on a conjunctive petroleum ILUA which has been accepted by the claim group for which he acts and is the first such ILUA in South Australia. That ILUA will act as an alternative to right to negotiate agreements contemplated by the Native Title Act. Michael was the principal negotiator for all the indigenous groups in the Cooper Basin in the negotiations which led to a series of agreements for exploration and production of petroleum in the Cooper Basin signed in 2001. Those agreements, reached between the indigenous groups and numerous petroleum producers in the Cooper Basin, were the first of their kind to be negotiated about petroleum reserves in Australia, using the right to negotiate provisions in the Native Title Act. Those agreements have been widely accepted as a template throughout Australia. Michael also led negotiations with peak bodies for the first mineral exploration Indigenous Land Use Agreement in South Australia. Michael has spoken to local, national and international conferences in the field of native title. Michael also advises on copyright, moral rights, character merchandising, trade marks and confidentiality. He widely advises to advertising agencies, graphic designers, photographers, authors and creative artists. Michael has appeared as counsel in all State jurisdictions, the Federal Court and the High Court in a wide variety of litigation issues. He has acted for a number of Lloyds of London syndicates in significant insurance litigation in Australia. |