Skyring v Sweeney [1998] FCA 1661

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

QUEENSLAND DISTRICT REGISTRY QB 4991 of 1996

BETWEEN: ALAN GEORGE SKYRING

Applicant

AND: PAUL DESMOND SWEENEY

Respondent

JUDGE(S): SPENDER J

DATE OF ORDER: 02/12/98

WHERE MADE: BRISBANE

THE COURT ORDERS THAT: (1) The application is refused. (2) The applicant pay the respondent's costs, to be taxed if not agreed.

Note: Settlement and entry of orders is dealt with in Order 36 of the Federal Court Rules.

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

QUEENSLAND DISTRICT REGISTRY QB 4991 of 1996

BETWEEN: ALAN GEORGE SKYRING

Applicant

AND: PAUL DESMOND SWEENEY

respondent

JUDGE(S): SPENDER J

DATE: 02/12/98

PLACE: BRISBANE

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

By an application which was filed on 18 November 1998 Alan George Skyring has sought, amongst other things, an order from the Court that further proceedings brought against him under the Bankruptcy Act 1966 by the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited ('ANZ') through its Creditor's Petition No 598 of 1996, amongst other things, the continuation of the public examination of the applicant adjourned on 25 March 1997 to a date to be fixed and now re-listed to be continued on 3 December 1998, be stayed. While it is headed "APPLICATION to the COURT", the note at the foot of the page indicates it is a notice of motion filed by Mr Skyring. Solicitors on behalf of Paul Desmond Sweeney wrote on 13 November to Mr Skyring, and under the heading "YOUR BANKRUPTCY", the letter commenced: "This is to advise that the public examination which took place on 25 March 1997 and which was adjourned to a date to be fixed, has been relisted for hearing on 3 December 1998 at 10.30am." Later, the letter said: "As with the previous hearing, the adjourned hearing on 3 December 1998 will take place at the Federal Court of Australia, Level 6, Commonwealth Law Courts Building, 119 North Quay, Brisbane." It continued: "We anticipate that your further examination will probably take about one hour but you should ensure that you are available to give evidence between 10.30am and 1.00pm just in case issues arise which require more detailed examination. Furthermore, although the examination is listed to commence at 10.30am, depending on the course of proceedings, there may be a delay before you are required to go into the witness box." I infer that it was subsequent to this letter of 13 November 1998 that Mr Skyring's application to this Court of 18 November 1998 was filed. In support of the application Mr Skyring has filed an affidavit with a large number of annexures. In the course of his oral submissions before me in amplification and support of the written submissions, essentially the contentions by Mr Skyring come down to these: he asserts, as he has on many occasions since the early 1980s, that sections of the Currency Act 1909 indicate that there is a constitutional bar to the issue of paper notes; that the judgment of Deane J in Re Skyring's Application No 2 (1985) 59 ALJR 561 is wrong; that there was not then a final determination of the arguments or issues that Mr Skyring ventilated before his Honour and that the later decision of the Full Court dismissing an appeal from the judgment of Deane J did not have the effect that there was any finality in respect of the judgment. The difficulty with this submission is that Mr Skyring fails to appreciate that his view of the judgment of Deane J is wrong. Mr Skyring continues to argue that there was not a final determination of the issue of whether there is a barrier against the issue by the Commonwealth of paper money as legal tender. In my judgment it cannot be plainer that the question before Deane J which Mr Skyring wished to argue, was whether the combined effect of a number of sections of the Constitution is to erect a barrier against the issue by the Commonwealth of paper money as legal tender. In the course of his Honour's reasons his Honour said: "There are, however, two particular matters which emerged in the course of Mr Skyring's oral submissions to which I should make specific reference. These are: