Chief Commissioner of State Revenue v. Pacific National (ACT) Limited

The Chief Commissioner of State Revenue appealed to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales against a decision concerning stamp duty on an agreement. The dispute centred on whether an agreement granting Pacific National (ACT) Limited access to rail infrastructure facilities constituted a lease for the purposes of the *Duties Act 1997* (NSW). The Act defines a lease to include an agreement by which a right to use land in New South Wales is conferred on or acquired by a person.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the agreement, which granted Pacific National access to rail infrastructure vested in a statutory corporation, fell within the definition of a lease under section 164A of the *Duties Act 1997*. This required the court to consider whether the grant of access to such facilities, even if situated on land owned by another statutory corporation, constituted the conferral or acquisition of a right to use land.

In separate judgments, Hodgson JA, Ipp JA, and Basten JA all concluded that the agreement did not create a lease for the purposes of the *Duties Act 1997*. The court reasoned that the statutory framework governing the rail network and infrastructure meant that the agreement did not grant a right to use land in the conventional sense of a lease. Instead, it conferred a right to use specific infrastructure for a particular purpose, which did not amount to the exclusive possession or control over land contemplated by the definition of a lease. Consequently, the appeal was allowed, the previous orders were set aside, and the summons was dismissed with costs.