R v Hibble; Ex parte Broken Hill Proprietary Co Ltd

This case concerned an application for a writ of prohibition brought by the Broken Hill Proprietary Co. Ltd. (the Company) against the chairman and members of the Coke Industry Special Tribunal and the Australasian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation (the Federation). The dispute arose from a demand made by the Federation on the Company for improved wages and working conditions for its employees. The Company sought to prohibit the Tribunal from proceeding with the matter, arguing that no valid industrial dispute existed between the parties.

The central legal issues before the High Court were whether the employees of the Company engaged in coke production were eligible for membership in the Federation under its rules, and consequently, whether the Federation's demand constituted a genuine industrial dispute of which the Special Tribunal had jurisdiction. The Court was required to interpret the rules of the registered organisation and the scope of the "coal and shale industry" as defined by the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act and the Industrial Peace Act 1920.

The Court reasoned that an organisation registered under the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act possesses the sole capacity to advance claims on behalf of individuals who have become its members in accordance with its rules. The rules of the Federation limited membership to "employees engaged in or in connection with the coal and shale industry." The Court held that the Company's employees engaged in converting coal into coke for the purposes of iron and steel manufacturing were not employed in or in connection with the coal and shale industry, but rather in the iron and steel industry. Therefore, these employees were not eligible for membership in the Federation. Consequently, the demand made by the Federation did not constitute an industrial dispute between the Federation and the Company, as the Federation could only act on behalf of its legitimate members. Furthermore, the Court found that there was no evidence of a real and genuine industrial dispute existing between the Company and its coke workers.

Accordingly, the rule nisi for prohibition was made absolute, prohibiting the Coke Industry Special Tribunal and the Australasian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation from further proceeding in relation to the Broken Hill Proprietary Co. Ltd.