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Case [2019] HCAB 5 24 June 2019

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High Court Bulletin

Produced by the Legal Research Officer,
High Court of Australia Library

[2019] HCAB 5 (24 June 2019)

A record of recent High Court of Australia cases: decided, reserved for judgment, awaiting hearing in the Court’s original jurisdiction, granted special leave to appeal, refused special leave to appeal and not proceeding or vacated

1: Summary of New Entries
2: Cases Handed Down
3: Cases Reserved
4: Original Jurisdiction
5: Section 40 Removal
6: Special Leave Granted
7: Cases Not Proceeding or Vacated
8: Special Leave Refused

1: Summary of New Entries

2: Cases Handed Down

Case	Title
Masson v Parsons & Ors	Constitutional Law
Carter Holt Harvey Woodproducts Australia Pty Ltd v The Commonwealth of Australia & Ors	Corporations Law
Plaintiff M47/2018 v Minister for Home Affairs & Anor	Immigration Law
Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Kobelt	Trade Practices

3: Cases Reserved

Case	Title
Taylor v Attorney-General of the Commonwealth	Administrative Law
Minogue v State of Victoria	Constitutional Law
The Queen v A2; The Queen v Magennis; The Queen v Vaziri	Criminal Law
BVD17 v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection & Anor	Migration Law

4: Original Jurisdiction

Case	Title
Vella & Ors v Commissioner of Police (NSW) & Anor	Constitutional Law

5: Section 40 Removal

6: Special Leave Granted

Case	Title
Commonwealth of Australia v Helicopter Resources Pty Ltd & Ors	Evidence
State of Western Australia v Manado & Ors; State of Western Australia v Augustine & Ors; Commonwealth of Australia v Augustine & Ors; Commonwealth of Australia v Manado & Ors	Native Title
Franz Boensch as trustee of the Boensch Trust v Pascoe	Trusts

7: Cases Not Proceeding or Vacated

8: Special Leave Refused

2: Cases Handed Down

The following cases were handed down by the High Court of Australia during the June 2019 sittings.

Constitutional Law

Masson v Parsons & Ors

S6/2019: [2019] HCA 21

Judgment delivered: 19 June 2019

Coram: Kiefel CJ, Bell, Gageler, Keane, Nettle, Gordon, Edelman JJ

Catchwords:

Constitutional law (Cth) – Courts – Federal courts – Federal jurisdiction – Matter arising under Commonwealth law – Where Commonwealth law provides rules in respect of parentage of children born of artificial conception procedures – Where State law provides irrebuttable presumption that biological father of child conceived by fertilisation procedure is not father in specified circumstances – Whether s 79(1) of Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth) operates to pick up and apply text of State law as Commonwealth law – Whether State law regulates exercise of jurisdiction – Whether Commonwealth law has "otherwise provided" within meaning of s 79(1) of Judiciary Act – Whether tests for contrariety under s 79(1) of Judiciary Act and s 109 of Constitution identical – Whether State law applies of its own force in federal jurisdiction.
Family law – Parenting orders – Meaning of "parent" – Where Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) presumes best interests of child served by shared parental responsibility – Where s 60H of Family Law Act provides rules in respect of parentage of children born…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

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Details

AGLC: High Court Bulletin [2019] HCAB 5
Case: [2019] HCAB 5
Decision Date

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In Masson v Parsons, the High Court of Australia considered the interaction between Commonwealth and State laws concerning parentage of children born through artificial conception procedures. The legal issue was whether a State law which provided an irrebuttable presumption that the biological father of a child conceived by fertilisation procedure is not the father, applies in federal jurisdiction under section 79(1) of the Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth). The Court held that the State law does not apply in federal jurisdiction, as the Commonwealth law had "otherwise provided" within the meaning of the Judiciary Act, and that the tests for contrariety under section 79(1) of the Judiciary Act and section 109 of the Constitution were not identical. The Court also found that the appellant was a "parent" within the ordinary meaning of the word, and that the ordinary meaning of "parent" did not exclude "sperm donor". The appeal was allowed, and the first and second respondents were ordered to pay the appellant's costs of appeal to the High Court. In Carter Holt Harvey Woodproducts Australia Pty Ltd v The Commonwealth of Australia, the Court considered the priority of payments in respect of trust assets when an insolvent corporate trustee realised the assets. The legal issue was whether the statutory order of priorities for payment of debts applied to the distribution of surplus proceeds from trust assets among trust creditors. The Court held that the statutory order did apply, and that the proceeds from the exercise of the insolvent corporate trustee's right of exoneration should be applied only in satisfaction of trust liabilities to which it related. The appeal was dismissed with costs.

Orders