Deckana Pty Ltd v Northern Territory

Deckana Pty Ltd (the applicant) sought special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia from a decision of the Full Court of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory. The dispute concerned the validity of a notice issued by the Northern Territory government under section 10(1) of the *Land Acquisition Act 1979* (NT) (the Act) to acquire a parcel of land owned by Deckana. Deckana contended that the notice was invalid because it was not accompanied by a statement of reasons for the acquisition, as required by section 10(2) of the Act.

The primary legal issue before the High Court was whether the requirement for a statement of reasons under section 10(2) of the *Land Acquisition Act 1979* (NT) was a condition precedent to the validity of a notice of acquisition issued under section 10(1) of the Act. In other words, the Court had to determine if a failure to provide the statement of reasons rendered the acquisition notice void *ab initio*.

Gummow and Callinan JJ held that the requirement for a statement of reasons under section 10(2) was not a condition precedent to the validity of the notice of acquisition under section 10(1). Their Honours reasoned that the language of the Act did not expressly or by necessary implication make the provision of reasons a prerequisite for the validity of the notice. They distinguished the present case from authorities where statutory requirements were found to be essential for validity, noting that the Act provided for the statement of reasons to be furnished subsequently. The Court affirmed the principle that statutory requirements are generally presumed to be directory rather than mandatory unless the contrary is clearly indicated.

Special leave to appeal was refused.