(a) In Minister for the Environment v Florence (1979) 21 SASR 108 at 134-135 Wells J said:
"Compulsory acquisition cases differ of course from ordinary claims dealt with in the general jurisdiction in one significant respect: the claimant, unlike the ordinary plaintiff, had no choice whether to make a claim or not; the mere acquisition by compulsory process gave him, by virtue of s 18 of the Act, a claim to compensation which he could hardly be expected to renounce. Upon an ordinary claim in the general jurisdiction it is, generally speaking, obvious who has won and who has lost, and correspondingly clear why costs usually follow the event. Upon a claim for compensation for land compulsorily acquired, it is not, generally speaking, appropriate to speak of one party as having won; compensation is awarded to one who has already been given, by statute, the right to receive it. It is therefore as just to say of the latter sort of case that the claimant ought, in the absence of special circumstances, to receive his reasonable costs of obtaining the compensation that is, ex hypothesi , his due, as it is to say of the former sort of case that prima facie costs follow the event in favour of the party who has won. But costs are, as always, discretionary, and no hard and fast rule will ever be allowed to occupy part of an area controlled by a discretion, however predictable the result of its exercise may be in certain sorts of cases".
(b) "The resumption of land is a serious matter. It is not apparent to me why a person who has had his land taken by a government or some other statutory authority should, in addition to losing his land, bear his own costs of seeking what in fact turns out to be just compensation" North Albury Shopping Centre Pty Ltd v Albury Municipal Council (1983) 49 LGRA 215 at 221 per Cripps J.
(c) "The Court has a general discretion as to costs, but the discretion must be exercised on principled grounds. The Commonwealth has succeeded on all issues. It would therefore seem difficult to justify ordering it to pay the applicants' costs. Moreover, if this was ordinary litigation, the Commonwealth might reasonably expect to obtain an order that the applicants pay its costs. But this is not ordinary litigation. The relationship between the parties giving rise to the litigation did not arise out of their mutual desire; it arose because of a unilateral decision of the Commonwealth to acquire the applicants' land in order to satisfy a perceived public need. The acquisition left the applicants in the position of either accepting the Commonwealth's assessment of the proper compensation or of having the court rule on its adequacy. Perhaps people in that position should be allowed access to the Court, to present an arguable and organised case, without being deterred by the prospect of being ordered to pay the Commonwealth's costs if their case proves unpersuasive. I distinguish the situation of resumees who pursue a vexatious, dishonest or grossly exaggerated claim or present their case in such a way as to impose unnecessary burdens on the Commonwealth or the Court": Banno v Commonwealth of Australia (1993) 45 FCR 32 at 51; 81 LGERA 34 at 53 per Wilcox J.
(d) "It has been said many times that the compulsory acquisition of land from an unwilling owner is a serious interference with that person's entitlement to quiet enjoyment and generally wide discretion to do with their own land as they see fit. It is a power of the State which is exercised for the public benefit. Very seldom does the resumption work to the benefit of the dispossessed owner. There needs to be a strong justification for awarding costs against an applicant where the effect of making that order is to erode the benefit of the just compensation recovered as a consequence of the Court's determination. It is only in special cases that the Court will deprive the owner of the full benefit of the compensation which is determined as fair and just in the circumstances of the case. An order for costs against the interests of the applicants in this case would clearly have a significant impact on the ultimate amount to be recovered by the applicants": Pastrello v Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW [2000] 110 LGERA 223 at [17] - [18] per Talbot J.
(e) "It is only in special cases that the Court will deprive a dispossessed owner of the benefit of a costs order particularly when the amount recovered is greater than that offered by the resuming authority at any time and significantly greater than any amount offered prior to the litigation": Horton v Wyong Shire Council (No 2) [2005] NSWLEC 45 at [28] per Talbot J.
(f) After referring to the judgment of Cripps J in North Albury Shopping Centre , Bignold J said in Constantino v Roads and Traffic Authority (NSW) (No 2) [2005] NSWLEC 209, 144 LGERA 224 at [8] - [10]:
"This general approach to the exercise of its costs discretion in proceedings to determine compensation for compulsory land acquisition has consistently permeated the decisions of this Court throughout its history, although it has never been translated into a general or inflexible rule that every claimant obtaining a judicial determination of compensation should obtain a costs order in the proceedings resulting in that determination."
(g) In Wollong Pty Ltd v Shoalhaven City Council [2002] NSWLEC 164, 122 LGERA 331 at [41] Talbot J said:
"The question remains whether the applicant was sufficiently unreasonable in refusing the offers to settle to justify an order that it pay the respondent's costs on a party and party basis or whether the philosophy expressed by Wilcox J in Banno v Commonwealth (1983) 81 LGERA 34 should prevail."