Peters v The Commissioner for Railways for the State of Queensland

Thomas Wallace Peters brought proceedings against the Commissioner for Railways for the State of Queensland and the State Compensation Board for the State of New South Wales. The dispute concerned workers' compensation claims and related constitutional questions. The matter came before the High Court of Australia.

The High Court was required to determine the appropriate course for the litigation, specifically whether to retain certain constitutional questions for its own determination while remitting the workers' compensation aspects to a State court. The constitutional questions raised concerned the power of the State of New South Wales to bind the Crown in right of the State of Queensland, either generally, retrospectively, or by reference to statutory fictions. Further constitutional issues related to whether a New South Wales law, particularly the 1987 Workers' Compensation Act, was a valid law for the peace, order, and good government of New South Wales, considering its connections to Queensland. The Court also had to consider the application of section 64 of the Constitution in relation to retrospective State laws.

The applicant, Mr. Peters, sought to have the constitutional questions, specifically questions 4, 5(a) and (b), and 8, retained by the High Court for its determination. These questions involved the interpretation of the Constitution and the extent to which a State could legislate extraterritorially or affect the Crown of another State. Conversely, Mr. Peters proposed that the compensation questions, identified as questions 6, 7, and 9, be remitted to Judge Moroney in the State Compensation Court of New South Wales for determination, as he was already part-heard in those matters. The Court considered whether to remove the entire cause into the High Court and then remit the compensation questions to a single Justice for further directions.