McDonald v Attorney-General for the State of South Australia

The applicants, McDonald and others, sought leave to appeal against interlocutory decisions of the Supreme Court of South Australia. The Attorney-General for the State of South Australia was the respondent. The core of the dispute concerned the applicants' attempt to pursue certain claims within their proceedings, which the respondent argued constituted an abuse of process.

The Court was required to determine whether to grant leave to appeal from the Supreme Court's interlocutory decisions. Specifically, the Court had to consider whether to dismiss an interlocutory application, whether to strike out specified paragraphs of the applicants' pleadings as an abuse of process, and whether to grant leave to appeal on other matters.

The Court dismissed the interlocutory application dated 12 April 2022. It accepted the respondent's arguments regarding the application dated 11 April 2022, ordering that the specified paragraphs be struck out as an abuse of process. Leave to appeal was otherwise refused. The applicants were ordered to pay the respondent's costs of the applications and the application for leave to appeal, certified fit for counsel.