Esso Australia Pty Ltd v “Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union” known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU); The Australian Workers' Union and Communications,...

Esso Australia Pty Ltd sought to have an order revoked that terminated industrial action by the AMWU, AWU, and Communications Union. The dispute involved whether the status of the industrial action as protected constituted a jurisdictional fact and if the decision to make the order was otherwise affected by jurisdictional error. Additionally, the court considered whether other discretionary considerations favoured revocation. The Fair Work Commission (FWC) had previously terminated the industrial action and, in response to Esso's application, reviewed its decision. The FWC determined that the industrial action was not protected and that the order was not affected by jurisdictional error. The FWC also found that other discretionary considerations did not favour revocation, and the application was dismissed.

The court examined whether the FWC had jurisdiction to revoke the order and whether the decision was affected by jurisdictional error. It considered if the status of the industrial action as protected was a jurisdictional fact and whether the FWC's decision was correct. The court also assessed whether the FWC had considered other discretionary factors that might support revoking the order. The FWC's decision was found to be lawful and correctly made, with no jurisdictional error. The FWC had correctly assessed the status of the industrial action and had appropriately weighed the discretionary considerations in declining to revoke the order. The application was dismissed as the FWC's decision was sound and in accordance with the law.