Cockman v Gorman

The appeal in Cockman v Gorman was heard by Mitchell, Javauge, and Hall JA of the Court of Appeal of Western Australia. The appellant, Tristan Cockman, was a former member of the Australian Labor Party who unsuccessfully sought preselection as the endorsed candidate for a House of Representatives seat in the 2016 federal election. Cockman brought proceedings against the respondents, officeholders in the Western Australian Branch of the ALP, seeking damages for alleged breaches of the WA Labor Constitution and Rules in relation to his failed preselection attempt and the failure to renew his ALP membership in 2017 and 2021. He also sought an order that the State Secretary of WA Labor amend the party's register of individual members to include Cockman as a member. The respondents sought summary judgment, which was granted by the primary judge. Cockman appealed the decision, contending that the primary judge erred in summarily dismissing the proceedings on the basis that the WA Labor Rules do not create enforceable legal rights by inference from the provisions of the Electoral Act 1918 (Cth). The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding that the WA Labor Rules were not intended to create contractual relations and that the Electoral Act did not create a cause of action for damages for breach of the constitution of a political party. The appeal was dismissed for the above reasons.