Merchant Service Guild of Australasia Claimant; and Commonwealth Steamship Owners' Association (No 2)

The case involved an application by the Merchant Service Guild of Australasia against the Commonwealth Steamship Owners' Association and numerous other respondents, including various State government departments and statutory bodies. The dispute concerned wages, hours, and conditions of labour for masters, officers, and engineers employed on steam vessels. A key issue was whether the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration had jurisdiction over disputes involving State government instrumentalities, particularly when their operations were not conducted for profit or in direct competition with private enterprise. The matter was referred to the Full Court of the High Court of Australia by Higgins J.

The legal issues before the court were whether the operations of statutory bodies like the Sydney Harbour Trust and the Melbourne Harbour Trust Commissioners, and the activities undertaken by State government departments (such as the Department of Navigation, Department of Public Works, and the State Trawling Industry), constituted "industrial disputes" within the meaning of section 51(xxxv.) of the Constitution and the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act. Specifically, the court had to determine if the fact that these operations were not carried on for profit, or were considered governmental or executive functions, exempted them from federal industrial jurisdiction.

The court, applying the principles established in previous decisions such as *Federated Municipal and Shire Council Employees' Union of Australia v. Melbourne Corporation* and *Amalgamated Society of Engineers v. Adelaide Steamship Co. Ltd.*, held that an undertaking did not need to be a trade, business, or carried on for profit to be considered an "industry" for the purposes of an industrial dispute. The court reasoned that the nature of the work performed by the employees was industrial, and the employer's motive or the statutory basis of its operations were not determinative. Consequently, the Sydney Harbour Trust and the Melbourne Harbour Trust Commissioners were found to be essentially industrial concerns and justiciable. Similarly, various State government departments engaged in industrial activities, such as operating pilot steamers, dredges, and a trawling industry, were also found to be justiciable respondents.