Qasabian Family Investments Pty Ltd v Roads and Maritime Services (No 2); Fishing Station Pty Ltd v Roads and Maritime Services (No 2)

The two cases, Qasabian Family Investments Pty Ltd v Roads and Maritime Services (No 2) and Fishing Station Pty Ltd v Roads and Maritime Services (No 2), were consolidated for hearing by the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales. The primary dispute concerns the validity of a direction issued by the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) to the respondents, requiring them to remove certain structures from a foreshore area. The respondents challenged the direction, arguing it was invalid as it was made without proper consideration of relevant statutory provisions and contrary to the statutory objectives.

The legal issues before the court encompassed whether the RMS had the authority to issue the direction, the extent of discretion available under the relevant statutory framework, and whether the direction complied with statutory objectives. Specifically, the court had to determine if the RMS's actions were in accordance with the Foreshores Act 1989 (NSW) and whether the statutory objectives of protecting the foreshore and promoting public access were being observed.

In delivering its judgment, the court examined the statutory provisions and found that the RMS had indeed exceeded its statutory authority in issuing the direction. The court concluded that the RMS had failed to properly consider the statutory objectives and had acted contrary to the legislative intent by issuing the direction without adequate justification. Consequently, the court ruled that the direction was invalid, as it was not made in accordance with the law and did not align with the statutory objectives.

The final orders of the court, as outlined in the directions at [62], mandated that the direction issued by RMS be quashed and that the respondents were no longer required to remove the structures in question. The court also directed that the matter be remitted to RMS for reconsideration in light of the court's findings.