National Australia Bank v Nomchong

The matter before the court was an application by National Australia Bank to strike out the defence of Nomchong, the defendant, in an action for possession of premises. The application was made pursuant to the court’s inherent jurisdiction to manage its own proceedings and was made under the provisions of the Supreme Court Act 1935 (WA). The central issue before the court was whether the defence raised by the defendant was sufficient to warrant the matter proceeding to trial or whether it could be dismissed as having no reasonable prospect of success. The court had to consider whether the defence amounted to an abuse of the court’s process and whether the defence was frivolous or vexatious. The court found that the defendant’s defence did not raise a triable issue and that the matter could be decided as a matter of law. The court held that the defence was an abuse of the court’s process and that the defendant had no reasonable prospect of success. The court exercised its power to strike out the defence and to grant summary judgment in favour of the plaintiff. The orders of the court were that the defendant’s defence be struck out and that judgment be entered in favour of the plaintiff for possession of the premises.