Walter & Anor v Resource Management & Planning Appeal Tribunal

[2002] HCATrans 177

IN THE HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Office of the Registry
  Hobart  No H3 of 2001

B e t w e e n -

ROBERT WALTER and PENNY WISSLER

Applicants

and

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING APPEAL TRIBUNAL and G. RIDLER

Respondents

Application for special leave to appeal

GAUDRON J
CALLINAN J

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

FROM HOBART BY VIDEO LINK TO CANBERRA

ON FRIDAY, 3 MAY 2002, AT 12.27 PM

Copyright in the High Court of Australia

MR P.W. TREE:   If the Court pleases, I appear for the applicants.  (instructed by FitzGerald and Browne)

I do not apprehend there to be an appearance for the respondent, but perhaps he should be called.

GAUDRON J:   No, I regret to inform you, Mr Tree, it is somewhat more complicated than that.  Upon checking the Court records, it is ascertained that he communicated with the Court saying that he wished to be present, but he did not wish to put in written submissions.  He was told that it was possible that the matter would be listed today, but by no means certain.  He informed the Court that he would not be available today, that he would be away.  A letter was sent to his address, but we have no idea whether it has been received and it has not been possible to contact him. 

Now, Mr Tree, enough has gone wrong in this matter, it seems to me, without something else going wrong and I think the matter should be stood out of the list – I am sorry to tell you this at this stage – until he can be contacted and we can satisfy ourselves that he does know that the matter has been listed.

MR TREE:   I am in your Honour’s hands.

GAUDRON J:   Yes.  Well, that is the course we will take and I do apologise to you, Mr Tree, that we have had to take this course.  Unfortunately, when we checked the matter, these difficulties emerged.  So the matter will stand out of the list and it need not await any particular listing.  Once the Registry can make contact with the respondent, Mr Ridler, it can be just tacked on to any other video leave day, if that is all right with you.

MR TREE:   Certainly, your Honour.

GAUDRON J:   We would probably hear it first in the day, anyway, to make good the inconvenience we have caused you to some extent.

MR TREE:   Thank you, your Honours.

GAUDRON J:   Thank you, Mr Tree.

AT 12.30 PM THE MATTER WAS ADJOURNED