In the Matter of Cusack; In the Matter of Skyring

The proceedings before the High Court of Australia involved two applicants, Mr. Cusack and Mr. Skyring, who sought leave to issue process. Both applicants appeared in person. The core of Mr. Cusack's application concerned his family's imminent ejection from their home, which he believed was a consequence of a dispute with a bank. He argued that the bank's power of sale under mortgage documents was fundamentally flawed, contending that creditors should only be permitted to hold property until a debt is paid, not to sell it.

The central legal issue presented by Mr. Cusack was the legitimacy of the banking system's power to create and issue money. He asserted that this power, which he characterised as akin to counterfeiting, constitutionally belonged to the federal government. He argued that private corporations had usurped this right, leading to a fundamental flaw in the financial system that underpinned his dispute with the bank. Mr. Cusack also sought to distinguish his current application from earlier High Court decisions, including a Full Court decision in Mr. Skyring's matter and a 1985 judgment by Justice Wilson in his own case.

The court was required to consider the applicants' requests for leave to issue process, which involved assessing the legal basis for their claims. Mr. Cusack's argument hinged on challenging the constitutional authority of private banks to create money and the subsequent implications for contractual powers, such as the power of sale in mortgages. He posited that this fundamental issue of monetary creation was the underlying cause of his legal predicament and sought to establish an inherent jurisdiction for the court to address it.