Guy v Commonwealth of Australia

[2019] FCCA 3872

FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA

GUY v COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA [2019] FCCA 3872

Catchwords:
HUMAN RIGHTS – Unlawful discrimination application – legal capacity – whether the applicant understands the nature and possible consequences of the proceeding – whether the applicant is capable of adequately conducting or giving adequate instructions for the conduct of the proceedings.

Legislation:
Federal Circuit Rules 2001 (Cth), rule.11.08(1)

Applicant: CAMERON WILLIAM GUY

Respondent: COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA (SERVICES AUSTRALIA, FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES)

File Number: MLG 3427 of 2019

Judgment of: Judge McNab

Hearing date: 17 December 2019

Date of Last Submission: 17 December 2019

Delivered at: Melbourne

Delivered on: 17 December 2019

REPRESENTATION

The Applicant appearing in person

Counsel for the Respondent: Ms Bardan

Solicitors for the Respondent: Mills Oakley Lawyers

ORDERS

1. Within 60 days of the date of this Order, the applicant attend a medical examination with a psychiatrist nominated by the President or Head of the College of Psychiatrists (NSW) for the purpose of preparing a report to the Court in relation to the Applicant’s capacity to understand the nature and possible consequences of the proceeding and whether he is capable of adequately conducting or giving adequate instructions for the conduct of the proceedings.

2. The costs of the examination and report shall be borne by the Respondent (subject to being advised of the costs prior to the medical examination being arranged).

3. A copy of the transcript of this day’s hearing be provided to the consulting psychiatrist.

4. The Respondent serve a copy of this order on the President or Head of the College of Psychiatrists (NSW).

5. Upon the report being prepared, this be produced to the Court by sending same by email to Chambers of Judge McNab at [email protected].

6. The proceedings be stayed until the report referred to in paragraph 1 is provided to the Court.

7. The matter be listed for further mention on a date to be advised.

FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT
OF AUSTRALIA
AT MELBOURNE

MLG 3427 of 2019

CAMERON WILLIAM GUY

Applicant

And

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA (SERVICES AUSTRALIA, FORMERLY KNOWN AS DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES)

Respondent

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

(DELIVERED EX-TEMPORE – REVISED FROM TRANSCRIPT)

1. This application has been brought before the Court by the applicant, Mr Guy. He is subject to a managed service plan and has received a disability pension since at least 2011.

2. Mr Guy advised the Court that he suffered permanent frontal lobe damage as a result of involvement in a serious car accident when he was aged seven.

3. In the course of the hearing today, when addressing the Court at length in relation to his case, Mr Guy initially stated that he wished to subpoena Mr John Howard and Ms Julia Gillard as witnesses in the case. Mr Guy then explained the narrative of his involvement with what he said was the government. Mr Guy explained that from the age of 12 until the age of about 19, he was very closely connected with the government. He was, in fact, very closely connected with the then Prime Minister, Mr Bob Hawke. Mr Guy referred to Mr Hawke as his ‘liaison in government’.

4. Mr Guy said that at the age of 12 he was trained by the police force, was acting as a policeman, was conducting arrests on people and was acting as an informer to the police force with the imprimatur of the police and the highest levels of government. Mr Guy also described a phenomena of the men in black suits and the men in grey suits who operated, effectively, as a secret adjunct to government which very few people knew about. In the course of Mr Guy’s top secret government work, he was standing adjacent to Prime Minister Bob Hawkes’s office and overheard that a person would be “eliminated”. This is a brief summary of the matters raised by Mr Guy.

5. This narrative, in addition to the other matters of a similar nature that Mr Guy raised before the Court caused the Court to be concerned that Mr Guy does not have the capacity to understand the nature of the proceeding that he has brought or the consequences of it, and that he may need a litigation guardian to be appointed pursuant to rule 11.08(1), Federal Circuit Rules 2001 (Cth). Mr Guy was adamant that he had capacity to conduct the proceedings and that the narrative that he presented to the Court was part of his response to concerns raised by the Court in relation to his capacity.

6. For that reason, I will make the orders that were sought by the Respondent.

I certify that the preceding six (6) paragraphs are a true copy of the reasons for judgment of Judge McNab

Associate:  

Date:  4 March 2020