Salia Property Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Highways

Salia Property Pty Ltd appealed to the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia against a decision of a single judge who had dismissed its application for judicial review concerning the compulsory acquisition of its land by the Commissioner of Highways. Salia contended that the notice of acquisition was invalid and sought to have the registration of the Commissioner as the proprietor of the land cancelled.

The primary legal issues before the Full Court were whether the Commissioner's delegate had validly discharged the statutory obligation to provide an explanation and details of the acquisition scheme under section 11 of the Land Acquisition Act 1969 (SA), and whether the Court should depart from the precedent established in *Palais Parking Station Pty Ltd v Shea* (1980) 24 SASR 425, which held that a court lacked the power to compel the Registrar-General to cancel a registration of title even if the acquisition was found to be invalid.

The Court, in dismissing the appeal, reasoned that statutory powers and obligations can generally be exercised or discharged by a designated person or an authorised agent, subject to the specific terms of the statute. This principle, supported by High Court authority such as *O’Reilly v The Commissioners of the State Bank of Victoria* (1983) 153 CLR 1, indicated that the provision of information by Mr Rossi, as a delegate or authorised agent of the Commissioner, was permissible. The Chief Justice noted that if the only remaining obstacle to Salia succeeding were the discretionary considerations regarding the passage of time and events, further submissions would be heard. However, the Court ultimately found no basis to overturn the single judge's decision.

The appeal was dismissed, with Doyle CJ, Anderson J, and Stanley J all agreeing that the appeal should be dismissed for the reasons articulated by the Chief Justice.