Harvey & Anor v Minister Administering the Water Management Act 2000

Harvey and another (the appellants) appealed to the High Court of Australia against a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned the validity of a decision made by the Minister administering the Water Management Act 2000 (NSW) to refuse to grant a water access licence. The appellants sought to challenge this refusal on the grounds that the Minister's decision was affected by an error of law, specifically that the Minister had failed to take into account a relevant consideration and had taken into account an irrelevant consideration.

The High Court was required to determine whether the Minister, in refusing the water access licence, had failed to consider the potential impact of the licence on the environmental flows of the river system, and whether the Minister had improperly taken into account the fact that the appellants had previously been granted an interim water licence. The central legal question was whether the Minister's decision-making process had complied with the requirements of the Water Management Act 2000 and the principles of administrative law.

Gummow and Hayne JJ held that the Minister had indeed failed to take into account a relevant consideration, namely the impact on environmental flows, which was a mandatory consideration under the Act. They found that the Minister's reasons for refusal did not demonstrate that this crucial factor had been properly assessed. Furthermore, their Honours concluded that the Minister had improperly taken into account the existence of the interim licence, as this was not a relevant consideration for the purpose of determining the application for a permanent licence. The appeal was therefore allowed.