But Queensland’s Natural Resources Minister Stephen Robertson has laughed the plan, describing it as a stunt.

Mr Abbott said the legislation discriminates against local Aboriginal people by limiting their ability to make a living.

He has received legal advice that the Commonwealth has the power to override it.

"A national government which fails to become involved in a serious problem of a state government’s making, where it has ample capacity to do so, becomes complicit in the original error," Mr Abbott said.

"Where the Commonwealth has the constitutional authority, intervention is possible. Where a state’s failure is sufficiently grave or far reaching, intervention arguably becomes necessary."

Mr Abbott argues that apart from education, "economic development is the key to real progress for Aboriginal people".

"The Queensland Government says that it supports a better life for Aboriginal people but it has effectively locked them out of their land by making economic development on Cape York almost prohibitive through over regulation and red tape," he said.

"Very few Cape York people or organisations have the tens of thousands of dollars needed to penetrate this legislative and regulatory jungle.

"The Queensland Government has made Wild Rivers declarations for Cape York despite the opposition of most local indigenous people."

But Mr Robertson immediately dismissed the Federal Liberal’s challenge as a stunt.

"This is typical of Tony Abbott," Mr Robertson said.

"[It is] an overreaction to a complex issue and one that, whilst he might play it out as some sort of stunt in Federal Parliament, I suspect [it] won’t change a thing in terms of the ongoing campaign by some individuals against our Wild Rivers legislation."