Proposed December 2022 Special General Meeting of the first respondent
24 On 24 November 2022, the solicitors for the applicants were advised by Queensland South Native Title Services that the respondents had issued a notice of consultation and consent meeting (Consultation Notice), indicating the respondents were intending to pass amendments to the Rule Book in December 2022 to give effect to an alternative new membership structure, in a modified form to that of the First Proposed Membership Restructure (the Second Proposed Membership Restructure).
25 On 30 November 2022, the solicitors for the respondents provided a copy of a notice for the Special General Meeting scheduled on 18 December 2022 to the solicitors for the applicants (December SGM Notice).
26 The December SGM Notice outlined the Second Proposed Membership Restructure which envisaged that:
(a) the Common Law holders would be able to apply for "Class B Membership";
(b) before a person could become a "Class B Member", the directors of the first respondent would need to be satisfied that the person:
(i) was of good character and standing in the community;
(ii) had not engaged in any personal attacks, bullying or abusive behaviour with respect to other Common Law Holders, Members, Officers, Registered Observers or employees of the Corporation;
(iii) had not behaved in a manner that had significantly interfered with the operation of the Corporation or of Corporation meetings; and
(iv) had not acted in a manner contrary to the best interests of the Bailai, Gurang, Gooreng Gooreng, Taribelang Bunda People or the Corporation.
(c) Class B Members would not be entitled to vote at general meetings;
(d) voting would be reserved for up to four companies (one for each clan), who would be admitted as "Class A Members" in accordance with undisclosed "PBC Regulations" and at the discretion of the directors of the first respondent. Each of the companies would have two votes each;
(e) alternatively, if the directors declined to admit a Class A Member for a particular clan, the directors themselves would exercise those votes instead; and
(f) the Consultation Notice would contain the following statement:
The PBC is proposing to amend its Rule Book to:
• Implement the corporate structure previously presented to members and common law holders; and
• Make the Rule Book compliant with requirement resulting from the amendment of Corporation (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006.
27 The briefing note, which was referred to in the Consultation Notice and subsequently obtained by the applicants (Briefing Note), included the following statement:
New Rules 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 and 5.14 - Under the changes to the CATSI Act there must be a mechanism for all Common Law Holders to be represented in the membership of the PBC. Prior to the CATSI Act changes coming into effect, the PBC operated upon the basis of trying to preserve the principle of equal membership of the four Nations. This is no longer an option. However, the equality of the four Nations is something that was originally agreed when the PBC was established, and the directors believe it is important to preserve this to facilitate cooperation amongst the four Nations. Therefore, the PBC is proposing to introduce three classes through which all the Common Law Holders may be represented but still maintain equality of voting for the four Nations.