Re Building Workers Industrial Union & Ors; Ex parte Metal Trades Industry Association of Australia and Anor; Ex parte Master Builders Association of NSW

The parties involved were various industrial unions, including the Building Workers' Industrial Union, the Plumbers and Gas Fitters Employees Union of Australia, and the Amalgamated Metal Workers Union, on one side, and employer associations such as the Metal Trades Industry Association of Australia and the Master Builders Association of NSW on the other. The dispute concerned applications for writs of prohibition and certiorari. The proceedings were before the High Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether to make absolute or discharge the orders nisi previously granted by Justice Gaudron. These orders nisi were directed against the Honourable Barry Maddern, the Honourable Michael Keogh, the Honourable Joseph Riordan, Patricia Leary, and Gregory Smith, who were presumably acting in some judicial or quasi-judicial capacity in relation to the underlying dispute.

The High Court, presided over by Mason CJ, noted that the Registrar had received consent orders duly signed by the solicitors for all parties. These consent orders stipulated that the orders nisi granted on 7 July 1989 would be made. Consequently, the Court made a consent order to that effect.