Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs v Mayer

The Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs appealed to the High Court of Australia against a decision of the Federal Court of Australia. The dispute concerned the validity of a deportation order made against Mr. Mayer, a citizen of Austria, who had been convicted of certain offences in Australia. The Federal Court had found the deportation order to be invalid.

The High Court was required to determine whether the Minister had properly exercised his discretion under section 11(1)(g) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) when making the deportation order. Specifically, the Court had to consider whether the Minister had taken into account irrelevant considerations or failed to take into account relevant considerations when forming the opinion that Mr. Mayer's deportation was "desirable".

The Court held that the Minister's discretion under section 11(1)(g) was not unfettered and that the decision to deport must be based on relevant considerations. In this instance, the Minister had taken into account the fact that Mr. Mayer had been convicted of offences, which was a relevant consideration. However, the Court found that the Minister had also taken into account irrelevant considerations, namely the potential impact of Mr. Mayer's deportation on his family in Austria, which was not a matter the Minister was entitled to consider under the Act. The Court applied the principles of administrative law concerning the proper exercise of discretionary powers, emphasizing that such powers must be exercised for the purpose for which they were conferred and without regard to extraneous matters.

The appeal was dismissed, and the decision of the Federal Court was affirmed.