R v Foster; Ex parte Eastern & Australian Steamship Co Ltd [1959] HCA 10

High Court of Australia Dixon C.J. McTiernan, Fullagar, Kitto. Taylor, Menzies and Windeyer JJ. R v Foster; Ex parte Eastern & Australian Steamship Co Ltd

ORDER Order that the order nisi for a writ of prohibition be discharged with costs.

Cur. adv. vult.

The following written judgments were delivered:—

1959, Mar. 12 Dixon C.J.

The Merchant Service Guild of Australasia and the Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers delivered to a large number of shipowners and others employing members of those respective bodies logs of claims or demands relating to the terms and conditions of employment. Included among the employers to whom the respective logs were delivered is the Eastern and Australian Steamship Company. That company is the prosecutor in the order nisi for a writ of prohibition now before us. The demands contained in the logs covered the salaries and the working conditions at sea or in port of the various descriptions of employees represented by the two bodies. In the one case the description was limited to a master or mate or an engineer being a member of the Merchant Service Guild. In the other case the log dealt in effect with ships' engineers but the definition extended to any member of the Institute of Marine and Power Engineers employed by employers upon whom the log was served. One may suppose that the ships of the greater number of the employers served are engaged in inter-State trade upon the Australian coast. But that is not true of the Eastern and Australian Steamship Company. That company has four vessels which trade via ports between Adelaide and Kobe in Japan. The ships are registered in London but in every case the ship's articles are opened and signed in Hong Kong. Apart from the master, deck officers (usually four in number) and the engineer officers (usually eleven) the crew reside in Hong Kong or China. The master, deck officers and engineer officers are engaged or discharged in Sydney and reside in Australia.