Dust Diseases Tribunal of New South Wales CITATION : (Re: Maher) Eraring Energy v State Rail Authority of New South Wales & Ors [2005] NSWDDT 7 MATTER NUMBER(S) : 75 of 97/1 JUDGMENT OF: McIntyre A J at 1 :- EX TEMPORE JUDGMENT DATE : 02/25/2005 JUDGMENT: 1. In these proceedings the cross-claimant seeks contribution pursuant to s 5 of the Law Reform Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1946 in relation to a liability incurred by it pursuant to a consent judgment to pay damages to a Mr John Samuel Maher in the sum of $180,000 inclusive of costs, judgment being entered by the Tribunal on 19 November 1997. The defendants in those proceedings were SRA and Pacific Power. 2. The cross-claimant or its predecessors in title was effectively the employer of the plaintiff Mr Maher between 1948 and 1986. The liability of the cross-claimant arose out of exposure of the plaintiff to asbestos dust and fibre at a number of locations in New South Wales during that period. The cross-claimant seeks contribution pursuant to s 5 of the Law Reform Act from Babcock Australia Ltd, Babcock International Ltd, Wallaby Grip Ltd and Wallaby Grip (BAE) Pty Ltd, other cross-claims having been discontinued. 3. As in earlier proceedings in which I have just given a detailed judgment (in the matter where Mr Murray was the plaintiff) the cross-claimant Eraring has filed a notice pursuant to s 25B of the Dust Diseases Tribunal Act asserting that BIL in defending the cross-claim cannot litigate without the leave of the Tribunal certain matters which it maintains were the subject of previous determinations of a general nature in proceedings in the Tribunal or on appeal from the Tribunal. Again, the s 25B notice in these proceedings is in identical terms to the s 25B notice in the Murray proceedings, and the parties have adopted for the purposes of these proceedings the submissions made in those proceedings. Again, this is a determination as a separate issue pursuant to Pt 31 r 2 of the Supreme Court Rules of the question of whether certain disputed parts of the s 25B notice relate to determinations of issues of a general nature in proceedings before the Tribunal or on appeal from the Tribunal. 4. For the reasons previously given in the matter of Murray I find that the following paragraphs in the amended s 25B notice in these proceedings do not raise determinations of issues of a general nature within s 25B of the Dust Diseases Tribunal Act 1989 & : pars A(2), D(2) and (3) F(1), H(1), I (1) to (24) J(1) and J(2), M(1) and M(2). 5. I make no order as to costs reserving the question of costs for the conclusion of the cross-claim. DISCLAIMER - Every effort has been made to comply with suppression orders or statutory provisions prohibiting publication that may apply to this judgment or decision. The onus remains on any person using material in the judgment or decision to ensure that the intended use of that material does not breach any such order or provision. Further enquiries may be directed to the Registry of the Court or Tribunal in which it was generated.