The Trustees of the District Grand Lodge of North Queensland of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of Queensland v Chief Executive, Department of Lands

The Trustees of the District Grand Lodge of North Queensland of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of Queensland filed an appeal against the Chief Executive of the Department of Lands, contesting the categorisation of a lease for land used as a complex for the care of aged persons. The lease had been classified as "Category 4" (Commercial and Industrial) rather than "Category 6" (Non-profit Organisations), leading to a dispute over the appropriate classification and associated costs. The case was heard in the Land Court of Brisbane.

The central legal issue was whether the lease should be categorised as "Category 6" for non-profit organisations, based on the organisation's constitution prohibiting the distribution of profits to its members. The dispute centred on the Department of Lands' refusal to reconsider the classification despite clear evidence of the organisation's non-profit status, and whether the appellant was entitled to costs incurred due to this refusal.

The court found that the Department of Lands had initially refused to reconsider the categorisation despite being aware of the organisation's non-profit status. The court exercised its discretionary power under s.41(9) of the Land Act 1962, concluding that the case met the criteria for a "special case" as outlined in the Land Appeal Court's judgment in W.H. Bowden v. The Valuer-General. The court granted the appellant's application for costs, ordering that the respondent pay the appellant's costs associated with the appeal. The specific amount of these costs was to be determined by the cost taxing officer of the Supreme Court in Brisbane.

The final order of the court was that the respondent pay the appellant's costs of and incidental to the hearing and determination of the appeal, with the amount to be fixed by the Supreme Court's cost taxing officer.