Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union & Ors v Australian Building and Construction Commissioner

In the case of Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union & Ors v Australian Building and Construction Commissioner, the applicants sought an extension of time to apply for special leave to appeal from the decision of the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia. The dispute involved a consideration of the applicants' ability to appeal the Full Court's decision and the grounds upon which such an appeal could be based. The High Court was tasked with determining whether special leave to appeal should be granted, considering the merits of the proposed grounds of appeal.

The legal issues before the court included whether the Full Court's decision was correct and whether the proposed grounds of appeal warranted an extension of time. Specifically, the applicants argued that the Full Court's application of a previous decision was incorrect and that there was a valid basis to question the Full Court's ruling. The court was required to assess the correctness of the Full Court's decision and whether the proposed grounds of appeal raised sufficient issues of principle to merit further consideration.

In its reasoning, the court noted that there was no basis to doubt the correctness of the Full Court's decision. The Full Court had correctly applied the decision in Australian Building and Construction Commissioner v Powell (2017) 251 FCR 470. The second proposed ground of appeal did not raise any questions of principle, and therefore, it would be futile to grant the extension of time sought. The court concluded that special leave should be refused as there was no valid basis for the extension of time to apply for special leave.

Consequently, the court directed the Registrar to draw up, sign, and seal an order dismissing the application with costs. This decision was made on 8 April 2021 by Justices M.M. Gordon and J.J. Edelman.