Woollard v Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd

Woollard (the appellant) sought a stay of execution of a primary judgment that granted Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (the first respondent) possession of a property and leave to issue a writ of possession. The appeal was heard by Meagher JA.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the appellant had an arguable ground of appeal that would warrant a stay of execution. Specifically, the court considered whether the grounds of appeal, if successful, would entitle the appellant to have the judgment for possession set aside in its entirety.

Meagher JA reasoned that even if the appellant succeeded on the grounds of appeal, this success would not lead to the complete setting aside of the judgment for possession. Consequently, there was no arguable ground of appeal that justified granting a stay of execution. The court therefore dismissed the appellant's application for a stay.

The court ordered that paragraph 2 of the notice of motion filed on 7 September 2016 be dismissed, and that the appellant pay the first respondent's costs of that motion. The second respondent provided an undertaking not to enforce any judgment or order in their favour made on 20 May 2016 until the final determination of the appeal, and there were no orders as to costs between the appellant and the second respondent. The notice of motion filed on 7 September 2016 was otherwise dismissed.