Chief Commissioner of State Revenue v Shell Energy Operations No 2 Pty Ltd (No 2)

The Chief Commissioner of State Revenue (the appellant) sought to re-open a decision of the Court of Appeal concerning the dutiable value of an acquisition by Shell Energy Operations No 2 Pty Ltd (the respondent). The dispute centred on whether certain interests held by the respondent constituted "land holdings" for the purposes of stamp duty under the Duties Act.

The Court of Appeal was required to determine whether it had addressed an argument that the respondent's interests were "land holdings" even if they were not fixtures. This involved considering the meaning of "land holdings" as employed in section 155 of the Duties Act and whether the interests held by the respondent were properly characterised as land holdings or as goods. The Court also considered whether an argument that chattels sitting on the land were "land holdings" even if not fixtures had been raised.

The Court reasoned that for an argument to be considered as having been raised and addressed, it must be clearly articulated in the notice of appeal. In this instance, the Court found that the argument that chattels not affixed to the land could constitute "land holdings" had not been raised in the notice of appeal. Therefore, the Court dismissed the appellant's motion to re-open the decision.

The Court ordered that the appellant's motion be dismissed with costs. It also set aside certain orders made by the Court below and remitted the matter to the appellant for determination on the basis that the dutiable value of the acquisition was $2,946,300. The appellant was also ordered to pay 90% of the respondent's costs of the appeal up to a specified date.