Maritime Union of Australia v Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development

In the case of Maritime Union of Australia v Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, the Maritime Union of Australia challenged the validity of a temporary licence granted by the Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development under the Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping) Act 2012 (Cth). The Union argued that the licence was invalid on several grounds, including that it did not specify a single port of loading, the applicant was not clearly identified, and the Minister did not publish an exact copy of the application on the Department’s website. The court was required to determine whether the Minister's decision in granting the licence was lawful and whether the statutory requirements were met.

The court examined the statutory provisions and the application process. It concluded that the requirement for the licence to specify a single port of loading was not mandatory, as the statute allowed for multiple ports to be specified disjunctively. The court held that the Minister's decision to identify one of the named applicants as the actual applicant was within the Minister's jurisdiction, as the status of the applicant was not a jurisdictional fact. Furthermore, the court found that the failure to publish an exact copy of the application on the Department’s website did not render the licence invalid, as the breach did not prejudice any party.

In light of these findings, the court rejected the Union's contentions and dismissed the application with costs. The court agreed with the reasoning of Rares and Jagot JJ that the Minister's breach of the statutory requirement to publish the application did not result in the invalidity of the licence.

The final orders of the court were that the application be dismissed with costs.