Latest Judgments

Taxation ; Practice and Procedure
Deputy Commissioner of Taxation v Whiteman [2017] FCA 951
TAXATION – Application for summary judgment in relation to tax debts – application for stay of proceedings whilst Part IVC proceedings afoot challenging tax debt – application for stay of execution of judgment whilst Part IVC proceedings afoot challenging tax debt PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Application for summary judgment in relation to tax debts – application for stay of proceedings whilst Part IVC proceedings afoot challenging tax debt – application for stay of execution of judgment whilst Part IVC proceedings afoot challenging tax debt
18 Aug 2017 |  DAVIES J

Taxation ; Practice and Procedure
Deputy Commissioner of Taxation v Batchelor [2017] FCA 950
TAXATION - Application for summary judgment in relation to tax debts - no defence filed and no reasonable prospects of success PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE - summary judgment on where no defence filed - no reasonable prospects of success
11 Aug 2017 |  DAVIES J

Customs
OneSteel Manufacturing Pty Limited v The Comptroller-General of Customs (No 2) [2017] FCA 959

18 Aug 2017 |  RARES J

Costs ; Industrial Law
Romero v Farstad Shipping (Indian Pacific) Pty Ltd (No 4) [2017] FCAFC 126
COSTS - where appeal dismissed but partial variations made as to the costs order in favour of appellant - whether usual costs orders should apply - where appellant claims costs on indemnity basis - whether outcome of the appeal equivalent to or better than the terms of offer made by appellant - whether respondent acted unreasonably in not accepting offer - where costs component of the appeal not in existence at the time of offer - where extent of appellant's success in variation of costs orders a result of reasoning proposed by the Court Held: respondent awarded two-thirds of its costs on a party and party basis
18 Aug 2017 |  ALLSOP CJ, RARES AND MCKERRACHER JJ

Administrative Law ; Migration
CDZ16 v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2017] FCA 967
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW - judicial review - application dismissed MIGRATION - protection (class XA) visa - fear of persecution for reason of membership of religion and particular social group - whether well-founded fear of persecution - whether the Authority failed to take into account relevant considerations - the Authority did not misapply or misconstrue s 473DC and s 473DD - whether well-founded fear of persecution may be confined to a region of a country - internal relocation principle - nature of that principle in light of s 5J(1)(c) - whether misapplication of internal relocation principle - the Authority made adverse findings open to the Authority - in light of those findings, unnecessary to determine meaning of s 5J(1)(c) - no jurisdictional error identified - application dismissed
18 Aug 2017 |  LOGAN J

Contract ; Industrial Law
Perry v Commonwealth of Australia [2017] FCA 943
CONTRACTS - whether contract between the applicant and the Commonwealth - whether Commonwealth breached that contract by failing to pay the applicant a certain amount upon voluntary retrenchment - whether payment of such an amount was provided for in express contractual terms contained an information booklet - whether such contractual terms were to be implied - where booklet provided to the applicant when employed by the State of Victoria as a meat industry inspector - where the applicant subsequently accepted an offer to transfer to Commonwealth employment INDUSTRIAL LAW - whether the alleged contractual terms constituted a "safety net contractual entitlements" under s 542 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)
18 Aug 2017 |  TRACEY J

Administrative Law
Fitzgibbon v Turnbull [2017] FCA 968
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW - freedom of information - application for access to document (Coalition Agreement) - claim by Minister that the document was not an official document of the Minister within the meaning of s 4(1) of the Freedom of Information of Act 1982 (Cth) - application to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for review of a decision by the Information Commissioner holding that the document sought was not an official document of a Minister - applicant applied at a directions hearing in the Tribunal for an order that his legal representatives be allowed to inspect the document as a matter of procedural fairness under s 39 of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 (Cth) - Tribunal had not at that stage required the document to be produced for inspection and the document had not been voluntarily produced to the Tribunal - at that stage the Tribunal had not otherwise proposed to have regard to the contents of the document - whether the Tribunal erred in its interlocutory decision that it did not have the power to order that the applicant's legal representatives be allowed to inspect the document and, if the Tribunal did have that power, that it would decline to exercise it - Held: application for judicial review dismissed
17 Aug 2017 |  ROBERTSON J

Insurance
Swiss Re Life & Health Australia Ltd v Public Trustee of Queensland [2017] FCA 963
INSURANCE - life insurance - application under s 215 of the Life Insurance Act 1995 (Cth) - beneficiary of life insurance policy charged with murder of life insured - applicant seeks to pay death benefit into Court and discharge its liability under the policy - application granted
18 Aug 2017 |  ALLSOP CJ

Migration
BVZ16 v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2017] FCA 958
MIGRATION - visa - refusal of visa - fast track reviewable decision by the Immigration Assessment Authority (IAA) - Migration Act 1958 (Cth) Pt 7AA - considering new information in exceptional circumstances - appellant's circumstances not considered to be exceptional - judicial review of IAA decision by Federal Circuit Court (FCC) - appeal from FCC decision - whether IAA member had regard to the s 473DD(b) criteria - jurisdictional error in failing to discharge the task of review under s 473DB(1) - construction of "exceptional circumstances" too narrow - jurisdictional error in construing statute - appeal allowed.
18 Aug 2017 |  WHITE J

Practice and Procedure ; Corporations Law
Jones v Treasury Wine Estates Limited (No 3) [2017] FCA 961
PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE - whether the evidence of a witness ordinarily resident in the USA should be given by video link - application opposed - application dismissed with costs
17 Jul 2017 |  FOSTER J