Barrick Australia Ltd v Williams

Barrick Australia Ltd appealed to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales against a decision of the Land and Environment Court concerning a modification of a development approval. The dispute centred on the scope of the Minister's power under section 75W of the *Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979* (NSW) to modify development approvals.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the Minister's power to modify a development approval under section 75W was engaged only if the proposed modification fell within the terms of the statutory language conferring that power. This involved determining whether the requirement for the request to fall within the statutory language constituted a precondition to the Minister's evaluative judgment, and if so, whether the Court was required to undertake that assessment.

The Court of Appeal held that the statutory language conferring the power to modify was a precondition to the exercise of that power. It reasoned that the Minister's power under section 75W was not unfettered and that a request for modification must first satisfy the threshold requirement of falling within the scope of the power granted by the Act. The Court determined that the Land and Environment Court had erred in its assessment of this jurisdictional fact.

Consequently, the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, set aside the judgment and orders of the Land and Environment Court, and ordered that the amended summons be dismissed.