Lock the Gate Alliance Ltd v The Minister for Natural Resources and Mines

The Lock the Gate Alliance Ltd sought judicial review of a decision by the Minister for Natural Resources and Mines to give indicative approval for the transfer of a mining lease for the Blair Athol coal mine, pursuant to section 318AAV of the Mineral Resources Act 1989. The Alliance, an environmental organisation, contended that the decision was a reviewable decision under the Judicial Review Act 1991, and sought a statement of reasons for the decision. The court had to determine whether the Minister’s decision to grant indicative approval was a reviewable decision and whether the Alliance's interests were adversely affected such that it was entitled to a statement of reasons. The primary issue was whether the decision to grant indicative approval was one that affected legal rights or obligations, and was therefore a decision made under an enactment within the meaning of the Judicial Review Act 1991.

The court examined the nature of the decision in light of the High Court's decision in Griffith University v Tang, which clarified the meaning of a "decision of an administrative character made …under an enactment". The court found that for a decision to be reviewable, it must not only be required or authorised by the enactment but also must itself confer, alter, or affect legal rights or obligations. The court considered that the decision to grant indicative approval did not affect existing legal rights or obligations but was rather a preliminary step that enabled the possibility of the statutory rights being conferred or altered in the future. Given this, the court held that the decision to grant indicative approval did not itself confer, alter, or affect legal rights or obligations in a manner that would make it reviewable under the Judicial Review Act 1991. Consequently, the decision was not one that required a statement of reasons.

The application for judicial review and for a statement of reasons was dismissed. The court ruled that the decision to grant indicative approval for the transfer of the mining lease did not meet the criteria for being a reviewable decision under the Judicial Review Act 1991, and as such, the applicant was not entitled to a statement of reasons for the decision.