R v Galvin; Ex parte

This matter concerned an order nisi for a writ of prohibition sought by the Australian Textile Workers' Union against John Michael Galvin, the Chief Conciliation Commissioner, and the Wool and Basil Workers' Federation of Australia. The dispute arose from an application by the Wool and Basil Workers' Federation of Australia to vary the Textile Industry (Wool and Worsted Section) Award 1950. The applicant union was neither a party to nor bound by the award. The prosecutor argued that the Chief Conciliation Commissioner lacked jurisdiction to entertain the application due to the applicant's status, as stipulated by section 34 of the *Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904-1952*.

The legal issues before the court were whether the Chief Conciliation Commissioner had the jurisdiction to hear an application for variation of an award made by an organisation that was not a party to the award or the original dispute, and whether prohibition lay to restrain the commissioner from proceeding with such an application. The prosecutor contended that section 34 of the Act imposed a condition on the commissioner's jurisdiction to entertain proceedings, and that the commissioner's lack of power to make an order on the application of an incompetent applicant meant prohibition should issue.

The Court, in its judgment delivered by Dixon C.J., held that while it was prepared to assume the applicant might lack the standing to make the application, this did not preclude the commissioner from having the power to vary the award. The Court reasoned that section 34, read in conjunction with section 49 of the Act, conferred power on a conciliation commissioner to vary an award of his own motion. Therefore, even if the application was made by an incompetent applicant, the commissioner retained the power to make the desired order independently. Consequently, the proceeding was not outside the commissioner's jurisdiction, and prohibition was not an appropriate remedy.

The order nisi for prohibition was discharged with costs.