[2019] WASC 200
General information, not legal advice.
Supreme Court of WA
2019-06-14
Smith J
Original judgment source is linked above.
(a) the decision made by the MetroEast Panel, on 29 October 2018, to approve the development on Lot 12 and Lot 50 will be referred to as the Skukuza approval; and
(b) Lot 50 and Lot 12 will be referred to as the Skukuza Land.
(b) Relevant development approvals made by the MetroEast Panel
Reason: the application before the panel raised potentially complex jurisdictional matters involving third parties and access arrangements, issues that might require legal advice and the parties should in the meantime discuss these matters further.
Prior to occupation, the proposed Thomas Road access is to be designed and constructed to the satisfaction of the Shire, on the advice of Main Roads WA.
The Thomas Road access shall operate as left-in/left-out for light vehicles and left in only turning movements for heavy vehicles and shall have suitable signage advising motorists of these restricted movements.
The developer shall be responsible for all costs involved in the land acquisition, design and construction of the left turning pocket and solid median to prevent right out turning movements onto Thomas Road. This includes signage, road markings, relocation of services, and street lighting associated with the turning pocket. (my emphasis)
Thomas Road is classified as a Primary Regional Road under the classification scheme used in the Metropolitan Regional Scheme. Main Roads defines Thomas Road as a Primary Distributor road and provides for regional and interregional traffic movement and carries large volumes of fast moving traffic. A road with a posted speed limit equal to or greater than 60km/h is defined as a fast road. This portion of Thomas Road is posted at 90km/h and has design speeds of 100km/h reducing to 80km/h on the approach to the Nicholson Road intersection.
Main Roads has a role to ensure that the functionality of Thomas Road continues to operate as a strategic freight route in a safe and efficient manner for road trains and all road users as currently permitted.
The majority of panel members considered that refusal of the existing approved land use 'shop' (liquor store) and alterations to the existing approved vehicle access was beyond power in that neither of these elements of the current approved development form part of this Form 2 application to amend that approval.
(a) s 28A of the Main Roads Act 1930 (WA) operates to preclude the MetroEast Panel from imposing 'control of access' conditions on Thomas Road;[15]
(b) condition 11 is ambulatory and requires an exercise of discretion by a third party, namely the Commissioner of Main Roads;[16]
(c) it is beyond power of the Metro-East Panel to impose conditions requiring acquisition and construction of a solid median on Main Roads Western Australia's property;[17] and
(d) condition 11 is legally unreasonable.[18]
Jurisdictional error and statutory construction
Jurisdiction, in the most generic sense in which it has come to be used in this field of discourse, refers to the scope of the authority that is conferred on a repository. In its application to judicial review of administrative action the taking of which is authorised by statute, it refers to the scope of the authority which a statute confers on a decisionmaker to make a decision of a kind to which the statute then attaches legal consequences. It encompasses in that application all of the preconditions which the statute requires to exist in order for the decisionmaker to embark on the decisionmaking process. It also encompasses all of the conditions which the statute expressly or impliedly requires to be observed in or in relation to the decisionmaking process in order for the decisionmaker to make a decision of that kind. A decision made within jurisdiction is a decision which sufficiently complies with those statutory preconditions and conditions to have 'such force and effect as is given to it by the law pursuant to which it was made'.
[A]n error in a statutory decisionmaking process, correspondingly refers to a failure to comply with one or more statutory pre conditions or conditions to an extent which results in a decision which has been made in fact lacking characteristics necessary for it to be given force and effect by the statute pursuant to which the decisionmaker purported to make it. To describe a decision as 'involving jurisdictional error' is to describe that decision as having been made outside of jurisdiction.
The principles of statutory construction are well known and do not require detailed exposition. Statutory construction requires attention to the text, context and purpose of the Act. While the task of construction begins and ends with the statutory text, throughout the process the text is construed in its context. Statutory construction, like any process of construction of an instrument, has regard to context. As Kiefel CJ, Nettle and Gordon JJ recently explained in SZTAL:
'The starting point for the ascertainment of the meaning of a statutory provision is the text of the statute whilst, at the same time, regard is had to its context and purpose. Context should be regarded at this first stage and not at some later stage and it should be regarded in its widest sense. This is not to deny the importance of the natural and ordinary meaning of a word, namely how it is ordinarily understood in discourse, to the process of construction. Considerations of context and purpose simply recognise that, understood in its statutory, historical or other context, some other meaning of a word may be suggested, and so too, if its ordinary meaning is not consistent with the statutory purpose, that meaning must be rejected.'
The primary object of statutory construction is to construe the relevant provision so that it is consistent with the language and purpose of all the provisions of the statute.
The objective discernment of the statutory purpose is integral to contextual construction. The statutory purpose may be discerned from an express statement of purpose in the statute, inference from its text and structure and, where appropriate, reference to extrinsic materials. The purpose must be discerned from what the legislation says, as distinct from any assumptions about the desired or desirable reach or operation of relevant provisions.
Discernment of statutory purpose is particularly significant in cases, commonly encountered, where the constructional choice presented is from 'a range of potential meanings, some of which may be less immediately obvious or more awkward than others, but none of which is wholly ungrammatical or unnatural'. In such a case, the choice 'turns less on linguistic fit than on evaluation of the relevant coherence of the alternatives with identified statutory objects or policies'. As we will explain later in these reasons, we think this is such a case.
Thus, the material provisions of the Act must be understood, if possible, as parts of a coherent whole.
Statutory texts enacted by the same legislature are to be construed, so far as possible, to operate in harmony and not in conflict. Where two or more statutory enactments comprise the overlapping legislative scheme, the enactments should be construed accordingly, and the court should endeavour to produce a rational, sensible, efficient and just operation in preference to an inefficient, conflicting or unjust operation.
Planning and development approval statutory scheme
171A. Prescribed development applications, DAP to determine and regulations for
...
(2) The Governor may make regulations
(a) providing that, despite any other provision of this Act or a planning instrument, a development application of a class or kind prescribed for the purposes of this paragraph
(i) must be determined by a DAP as if the DAP were the responsible authority under the relevant planning instrument in relation to the development; and
(ii) cannot be determined by a local government or the Commission;
(1) Despite any other provision of the Act or a planning instrument, any DAP application for approval of development within a district for which a DAP is established
(a) must be determined by the DAP as if the DAP were the responsible authority under the relevant planning instrument in relation to the development; and
(b) cannot be determined by the local government for the district or the Commission.
...
(2) The local government may determine an application for development approval by
(a) granting development approval without conditions; or
(b) granting development approval with conditions; or
(c) refusing to grant development approval.
'Control of access' and s 28A of the Main Roads Act
in relation to any road means that a section or part of that road is intended for use by prescribed traffic without avoidable hindrance, whether from traffic from an intersecting road or otherwise, and that such section or part of the road has been declared by proclamation to be subject to control of access and may be entered or departed from at specific places only
28A. Restricting access to roads from adjoining land
(1A) Where the Commissioner is of the opinion
(a) that any section or part of a road should have control of access and should be entered and departed from at specified places only; or
(b) that any land acquired should be reserved for a future road section with control of access,
the Commissioner shall make a recommendation to the Governor accordingly but may in so doing exclude a part of the road reserve from that recommendation.
(1B) On the recommendation of the Commissioner the Governor may, by proclamation, declare
(a) that such a section or part of a road is subject to control of access, and the places only at which it may be entered or departed from; or
(b) that the land acquired is to be reserved for a future road section subject to control of access.
(1C) Where the Commissioner is of opinion that a proclamation so made should be varied or cancelled, he shall make a recommendation to the Governor accordingly.
(1D) If of opinion that the recommendation should be given effect, the Governor may, by subsequent proclamation, vary or cancel a former proclamation.
(1E) Proclamations made pursuant to the provisions of subsection (1B) or (1D), as well as being published in the Gazette shall also, if the Governor thinks fit, be published or made known in such other manner as will, in the opinion of the Governor, afford reasonable opportunity to all persons concerned, to know of the substance of the proclamations.
(1F) The powers conferred by this subsection may be exercised from time to time, and notwithstanding the provisions of section 92 of the Public Works Act 1902.
(2A) There is no right of access into or from a section or part of a road subject to control of access except at the places provided pursuant to the provisions of this Act for the purpose.
The parties' arguments in respect of s 28A of the Main Roads Act
The principles to be applied where two legislative provisions are apparently inconsistent or overlapping
(a) whether s 28A of the Main Roads Act prevents the MetroEast Panel from imposing a condition requiring construction of a solid median on Thomas Road;
(b) does the requirement to install a solid median on Thomas Road constitute 'control of access' within the meaning of s 28A of the Main Roads Act; and
(i) if so, does the control access to and from Thomas Road depend upon the extent to which s 28A of the Main Roads Act and s 162 of the Planning and Development Act are inconsistent or incompatible with one another; and
(ii) whether the power conferred in s 28A excludes the power of the MetroEast Panel to impose conditions that control access to and from a road.
Does s 28A of the Main Roads Act prevent the MetroEast Panel from imposing condition 11?
(1) the section or part of the road is intended for use by prescribed traffic without avoidable hindrance, whether from traffic from an intersecting road or otherwise; and
(2) such section or part of the road has been declared by proclamation to be subject to control of access and may be entered or departed from at specified places only.
(a) The MetroEast Panel is empowered to impose conditions relating to construction of things beyond the Skukuza land if it has a planning purpose, is not unreasonable and is reasonably and fairly related to the development permitted.[48] The last requirement requires proof that there is a connection or relationship between the planning purpose for which the condition has been imposed and the likely or possible consequences of the proposed development.[49]
(b) For a development condition to have this connection to the development, it does not mean the condition can only refer to matters on the development land itself. A connection to the development may exist beyond things happening on the land itself.[50] In the context where a court upheld a condition of a subdivision requiring the contribution to the cost of replacing a bridge and resurfacing a road which provided access to the subdivision, Gibbs CJ observed that:[51]
... the local authority, in deciding whether a condition is reasonably required by the subdivision, is entitled to take into account the fact of the subdivision and the changes that the subdivision is likely to produce - for example, in a case such as the present, the increased use of the road and of the bridge - and to impose such conditions as appear to be reasonably required in those circumstances.
The power of the panel to impose conditions requiring acquisition and construction on Main Roads' property
[C]ourts are conscious of not exceeding their supervisory role by undertaking a review of the merits of an exercise of discretionary power. Properly applied, a standard of legal reasonableness does not involve substituting a court's view as to how a discretion should be exercised for that of a decisionmaker.
Review by a court of the reasonableness of a decision made by another repository of power 'is concerned mostly with the existence of justification, transparency and intelligibility within the decisionmaking process' but also with 'whether the decision falls within a range of possible, acceptable outcomes which are defensible in respect of the facts and law'.
Is the decision to impose condition 11 legally unreasonable?
I certify that the preceding paragraph(s) comprise the reasons for decision of the Supreme Court of Western Australia.
Research Associate/Orderly to the Honourable Justice Smith
[2] Affidavit of Randal Ivan Humich, filed 22 February 2019 [4].
[3] Annexed to these reasons as Annexure A is a copy of a map which shows the location of the Humich land and the Skukuza land.
[4] Affidavit of Randal Ivan Humich, filed 22 February 2019 [3].
[5] Affidavit of Randal Ivan Humich, filed 22 February 2019 [4], annexures RH2 and RH3.
[6] Annexed to these reasons as Annexure B is a copy of the plan of the January 2018 Humich approval.
[7] Affidavit of Fiona Sze, affirmed 15 March 2019 [10].
[8] Affidavit of Fiona Sze, affirmed 15 March 2019, annexure FZ5, pages 98-99 and annexure FZ6, page 137.
[9] Affidavit of Fiona Sze, affirmed 15 March 2019, annexure FZ7, page 156.
[10] Affidavit of Fiona Sze, affirmed 15 March 2019, annexure FZ1, page 10.
[11] Affidavit of Fiona Sze, affirmed 15 March 2019, annexure FZ11, page 655.
[12] Affidavit of Randal Ivan Humich, sworn 22 February 2019, Annexure RH6 page 140; letter from Main Roads Western Australia dated 4 September 2018 from Statutory Road Planning Manager.
[13] Affidavit of Randal Ivan Humich, sworn 22 February 2019, annexure RH6 page 142; letter from Main Roads, Western Australia dated 4 September 2018 from Statutory Road Planning Manager.
[14] Supplementary affidavit of Belinda Ann Moharich, sworn 7 May 2019, annexure BM6, page 9.
[15] Applicant's outline of submissions, filed 3 April 2019 [19].
[16] Applicant's outline of submissions, filed 3 April 2019 [21].
[17] Applicant's outline of submissions, filed 3 April 2019 [26].
[18] Applicant's outline of submissions, filed 3 April 2019 [33] - [34].
[19] Craig v South Australia [1995] HCA 58; (1995) 184 CLR 163, 176 (Brennan, Deane, Toohey, Gaudron & McHugh JJ).
[20] Hossain v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2018] HCA 34; (2018) 92 ALJR 780 [23] (Kiefel CJ, Gageler & Keane JJ).
[21] Hossain v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2018] HCA 34; (2018) 92 ALJR 780 [24] (Kiefel CJ, Gageler & Keane JJ).
[22] Re Refugee Review Tribunal; Ex parte Aala [2000] HCA 57; (2000) 204 CLR 82, 141 (Keane J).
[23] Mohammadi v Bethune [2018] WASCA 98 [31]-[36] (Martin CJ, Mazza & Beech JJA) applying, among others, Thiess v Collector of Customs [2014] HCA 12; (2014) 250 CLR 664 [22] [23]; Project Blue Sky Inc v Australian Broadcasting Authority [1998] HCA 28; (1998) 194 CLR 355 [69]; Alcan (NT) Alumina Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Territory Revenue [2009] HCA 41; (2009) 239 CLR 27 [4], [47]; Taylor v Owners of Strata Plan 11564 [2014] HCA 9; (2014) 253 CLR 531 [66]; SZTAL v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2017] HCA 34; (2017) 262 CLR 362 [38].
[24] Planning and Development Act 2004 (WA), s 171C.
[25] ts 34 - 35, 7 May 219; Applicant's outline of submissions, filed 3 April 2019 [19].
[26] ts 36, 7 May 2019; Applicant's outline of submissions, filed 3 April 2019 [16].
[27] ts 34, 7 May 2019; Applicant's outline of submissions, filed 3 April 2019 [11].
[28] Main Roads Act 1930 (WA) s 6: 'control of access'.
[31] Applicant's outline of submissions, filed 3 April 2019 [21]
[33] ts 54 56, 7 May 2019; Skukuza Ventures Pty Ltd's submissions, filed 24 April 2019 [21] [22].
[34] Sarawati v The Queen [1991] HCA 21; (1991) 172 CLR 1, 17 (Gaudron J).
[35] Anthony Hordern & Sons Ltd v Amalgamated Clothing and Allied Trades Union of Australia [1932] HCA 9; (1932) 47 CLR 1, 7 (Gavan Duffy CJ & Dixon J); see also Deputy Commissioner for Taxation v Dick [2007] NSWCA 190 [121] (Santow JA).
[36] Anthony Hordern & Sons Ltd v Amalgamated Clothing and Allied Trades Union of Australia [1932] HCA 9; (1932) 47 CLR 1, 7 (Gavan Duffy CJ & Dixon J).
[37] Deputy Commissioner of Taxation v Dick [2007] NSWCA 190 [121] (Santow JA).
[38] Sarawati v The Queen [1991] HCA 21; (1991) 172 CLR 1, 17 (Gaudron J).
[39] Deputy Commissioner of Taxation v Dick [2007] NSWCA 190 [116] (Santow JA).
[40] Ferdinands v Commissioner for Public Employment [2006] HCA 5; (2006) 225 CLR 130 [4]; see also the comments of Gummow & Hayne JJ at [18].
[41] See generally Enman v Enman [1942] SAStRp 37; [1942] SASR 131, 138 139 (Mayo J).
[42] Enman v Enman [1942] SAStRp 37; [1942] SASR 131, 138 (Mayo J)
[43] Sarawati v The Queen [1991] HCA 21; (1991) 172 CLR 1, 17 (Gaudron J); Ferdinands v Commissioner for Public Employment [2006] HCA 5; (2006) 225 CLR 130, 133 - 134 [4] (Gleeson J).
[45] Main Roads Act 1930 (WA), s 28A(7).
[47] Main Roads Act 1930 (WA), s (7).
[48] Western Australian Planning Commission v Temwood Holdings Pty Ltd [2004] HCA 63; (2004) 221 CLR 30 [57] (McHugh J).
[49] Reid v Western Australian Planning Commission [2016] WASCA 181 [37] (Martin CJ; Newnes & Murphy JJA agreed).
[50] See, for example, the connection recognised between a subdivision or development and a condition requiring a contribution to parks and recreation: Lloyd v Robinson [1962] HCA 36; (1962) 107 CLR 142; a contribution to school site in the area: Tilbrook v Western Australia Planning Commission [2011] WASAT 130; a condition requiring the ceding of a lot for foreshore: SinAusBel Pty Ltd v Western Australian Planning Commission [2006] WASAT 266; (2006) 45 SR (WA) 67; Western Australian Planning Commission v Temwood Holdings Pty Ltd [2004] HCA 63; (2004) 221 CLR 30.
[51] Cardwell Shire Council v King Ranch Australia Pty Ltd [1984] HCA 39; (1984) 53 ALR 632, 635 (Mason, Wilson, Brennan & Dawson JJ agreed); referred to in Western Australian Planning Commission v Temwood Holdings Pty Ltd [2004] HCA 763; (2004) 221 CLR 30 [152] (Callinan J); SinAusBel Pty Ltd v Western Australian Planning Commission [2006] WASAT 266; (2006) 45 SR (WA) 67 [43] (Chaney J); Reid v Western Australian Planning Commission [2016] WASCA 181 [23] [26] (Martin CJ; Newnes & Murphy JJA agreed).
[52]Applicant's outline of submissions, filed 3 April 2019 [22] [26].
[53] Minister for Immigration and Citizenship v Li [2013] HCA 18; (2013) 249 CLR 332 [63] (Hayne, Kiefel & Bell JJ), [88] [89] (Gageler J); Kruger v The Commonwealth [1997] HCA 27; (1997) 190 CLR 1, 36 (Brennan J); Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs v Esheto [1999] HCA 21; (1999) 197 CLR 611 [126] (Gummow J).
[54] The Pilbara Infrastructure Pty Ltd v Economic Regulation Authority [2014] WASC 346 [142] [143].
[55] Minister for Immigration and Citizenship v Li [2013] HCA 13; (2013) 249 CLR 332 [66] (Hayne, Kiefel & Bell JJ).
[56] Minister for Immigration and Border Protection v SZVFW [2018] HCA 30; (2018) 357 ALR 408 [84] (Nettle & Gordon JJ).
[57] Minister for Immigration and Citizenship v Li [2013] HCA 13; (2013) 249 CLR 332 [67] (Hayne, Kiefel & Bell JJ).
[58] Minister for Immigration and Citizenship v Li [2013] HCA 13; (2013) 249 CLR 332 [23] (French CJ).
[59] Minister for Immigration and Citizenship v Li [2013] HCA 13; (2013) 249 CLR 332 [67] (Hayne, Kiefel & Bell JJ); Klein v Domus Pty Ltd [1963] HCA 54; (1963) 109 CLR 467, 473 (Dixon J); Jacob v Save Beeliar Wetlands Inc [2016] WASCA 126 [67] [68] (McLure P; Buss JA agreed).
[60] Minister for Immigration and Border Protection v SZVFW [2018] HCA 30; (2018) 357 ALR 408 [80] (Nettle & Gordon JJ).
[61] Minister for Immigration and Citizenship v Li [2013] HCA 13; (2013) 249 CLR 332 [76] (Hayne, Kiefel & Bell JJ), [98] (Gageler J); Minister for Immigration and Border Protection v SZVFW [2018] HCA 30; (2018) 357 ALR 408 [82] (Nettle & Gordon JJ).
[62] Minister for Immigration and Citizenship v Li [2013] HCA 13; (2013) 249 CLR 332 [105] applying New Brunswick (Board of Management) v Dunsmuir [2008] 13CR 190 [47]; applied in Minister for Immigration and Border Protection v SZVFW [2018] HCA 30; (2018) 357 ALR 408 [82] (Nettle & Gordon JJ).
[63] Western Australian Planning Commission v Temwood Holdings Pty Ltd [2004] HCA 63; (2004) 221 CLR 30 [57]; applied in Reid v Western Australian Planning Commission [2016] WASCA 181 [28], [35] (Martin CJ; Newnes & Murphy JJA agreeing).
[64] Planning and Development Act 2011 (WA) s 3(1)(a)-(c).
[65] ts 39 40,7 May 2019; the November 2018 decision to extend the Humich parties' approval consisted of three out of five of the same members as the 29 October 2018 meeting (Skukuza approval), in particular, the same presiding member, deputy presiding member, and one local government member.
[66] For the presentation request forms see: affidavit of Fiona Sze, affirmed 15 March 2019, annexure FZ8, page 485 - 492. Ms Linda Rowhey presented on behalf of the Humich parties at the meeting on 29 October 2018 see: affidavit of Randal Ivan Humich, sworn 22 February 2019, annexure RH16, page 320.
[67] See generally, Re Refugee Review Tribunal; Ex parte Aala [2000] HCA 57; (2000) 204 CLR 82; Re McBain; Ex parte Australian Catholic Bishops Conference [2002] HCA 16; (2002) 209 CLR 372.
[69] Skukuza Ventures Pty Ltd's submissions, filed 24 April 2019 [39] [40].
[70] See affidavit of Belinda Ann Moharich, sworn 24 April 2019, annexure BM4, page 223.
[71] Skukuza Ventures Pty Ltd's submissions, filed 24 April 2019 [40]; See affidavit of Belinda Ann Moharich, sworn 24 April 2019, annexure BM5, page 226, 227.
[73] Ainsworth v Criminal Justice Commission [1992] HCA 10; (1992) 175 CLR 564, 580, (Mason CJ, Dawson, Toohey & Gaudron JJ) 595 (Brennan J).
[74] Varney v Parole Board of Western Australia [2000] WASCA 393; (2000) 23 WAR 187 [87] (Ipp J); Mulholland v Winslow [2016] WASC 19 [79] (Martino J); Duro Felguera Australia Pty Ltd v Samsung CBT Corporation [2018] WASCA 28 [63] (Martin CJ).
(1991) 172 CLR 1
(2006) 225 CLR 130
(1999) 197 CLR 611
(2018) 357 ALR 408
(1963) 109 CLR 467
(2018) 92 ALJR 780
(2000) 204 CLR 82
(2014) 250 CLR 664
(2014) 253 CLR 531
(1962) 107 CLR 142
(1984) 53 ALR 632
(2013) 249 CLR 332
(1997) 190 CLR 1
(2002) 209 CLR 372
(1992) 175 CLR 564
(1995) 184 CLR 163
(1998) 194 CLR 355
(2009) 239 CLR 27
(2017) 262 CLR 362
(1932) 47 CLR 1
(2004) 221 CLR 30
(2000) 23 WAR 187