NSW Police ordered to pay $1.89m in legal costs after fishing trial collapses

Future of fishing prosecutions unclear after multi-million-dollar abalone trafficking case collapsesBy Vanessa Milton and Toby HemmingsABC South East NSWTopic:Native Title5m ago5 minutes agoSun 15 Feb 2026 at 9:01pmWalbunja man Keith Nye and six other men were under surveillance by NSW Fisheries and Police for six months. (ABC South East NSW: Vanessa Milton)In short:Court documents reveal NSW Police continued prosecuting seven men for illegally trafficking abalone for nearly two years, despite having knowledge of a critical evidence disclosure issue in their case.All charges were withdrawn in January, with NSW Police ordered to pay nearly $1.9 million in defence legal costs. What's next?Cultural fishing rights advocates are calling on the NSW government to formally cease prosecuting native title holders.abc.net.au/news/indigenous-fishing-prosecutions-future-unclear/106323308Link copiedShareShare articleIt was the biggest case in decades against Indigenous cultural fishers on the New South Wales south coast.Seven men, including six native title claimants, faced charges of trafficking thousands of blacklip abalone, with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.But subpoenaed documents have revealed the case had already fallen apart before it went to trial.Loading...After spending millions of dollars on a six-month joint NSW Police and Fisheries surveillance operation targeting the seven men, prosecutors withdrew all charges 11 days into the trial at Nowra Local Court.NSW Police has now been ordered to pay more than $1.89 million in defence costs and the government is facing scrutiny over why the case proceeded despite advice from its top legal advisors that it was likely to fail.Subpoenaed documents obtained by the ABC reveal NSW Fisheries and police prosecutors were made aware of a fundamental issue with the case in March 2024, almost two years before the trial.Evidence that could have led to a not guilty verdict was part of confidential negotiations in a south coast native title claim and therefore could not be produced for the trial.Traditional owners have rights to take shellfish under native title law. (ABC South East NSW: Wayne Carberry)For one of the seven defendants Keith Nye, the costs orders do not make up for decades of going through the court system, in this case and others, for exercising his cultural rights. "At the end of the day, we are no further ahead," he said. "We still carry the scars from yesterday and we will carry them for the rest of our lives."Failure to discloseState authorities put Mr Nye, Cain Bollard, Brent Wellington, Richard Schofield, John Henry Carriage, John Nathan Carriage, and Denzel Carriage under surveillance from September 2023 until February 2024.The joint operation involving NSW Police and fisheries compliance officers from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) occurred across multiple locations along the south coast and Sydney.The men were charged in January and February 2024 with multiple counts of illegally trafficking thousands of abalone and operating as a criminal gang and pleaded not guilty.Abalone is a traditional food for the South Coast Indigenous community, but subject to strict bag limits. (ABC South East NSW: Vanessa Milton)In December 2025, weeks before the trial was set to begin, legal teams acting for the seven men were informed about the existence of evidence that could not be disclosed in court.One of the seven defence barristers Jalal Razi said subsequent subpoenaed documents revealed that the confidential evidence related to native title claim negotiations on the south coast."There could not be a fair trial when the accused were denied access to that evidence," Mr Razi said.Jalal Razi says the full disclosure of evidence is fundamental to a fair trial. (ABC New England North West: Genevieve Blandin de Chalain)Emails produced under subpoena reveal that DPIRD and police first received advice from the Crown Solicitor's Office (CSO) on prosecuting native title holders in November 2023, with follow-up emails sent in February and March 2024.In the March email, after the charges were laid, the CSO wrote to police prosecutors in relation to this case stating: "The prosecutor will … have to resolve issues affecting its ability to comply with duties of disclosure" in relation to the confidential evidence. Despite this, the prosecution of the seven men continued for close to two years, including 11 days of hearings before police formally withdrew charges on January 27, 2026. The case was heard in Nowra Local Court for 11 days before charges were dropped. (ABC South East NSW: Toby Hemmings)Mr Razi said the lack of disclosure of a key exculpatory issue for 21 months was in his experience, "unprecedented". "I've never come across a case where there has been an issue of non-disclosure where it has concerned something at the heart of the very charges themselves," he said.NSW Police did not respond to questions of when