Union Steamship Company of Australia v King

The appellant, Union Steamship Company of Australia, a New South Wales company, appealed to the High Court of Australia from a decision concerning a workers' compensation claim. The respondent, an employee, had been engaged by the appellant to serve on a vessel engaged in interstate trade. Following his discharge, the respondent claimed compensation in the Workers' Compensation Commission of New South Wales for boilermaker's deafness, alleging a partial loss of hearing.

The central legal issues before the High Court were whether section 16 of the New South Wales Workers' Compensation Act was inconsistent with the provisions of the Commonwealth's Seamen's Compensation Act 1911, specifically sections 5B and 5C. The appellant argued for inconsistency on two grounds: direct inconsistency between the respective statutory provisions and a "cover the field" argument. The appellant also sought to argue the New South Wales Parliament's power to legislate extraterritorially.

The appellant contended that section 16 of the State Act, as applied to the circumstances of the case, was directly inconsistent with sections 5B and 5C of the federal Act. Furthermore, the appellant argued that the federal legislation intended to exclusively govern claims of this nature, thereby precluding the operation of the State Act. The Solicitor-General for New South Wales was granted leave to intervene to make submissions on the extraterritorial legislative power of the New South Wales Parliament.