Coe v Residential Tenancies Tribunal & Anor [1999] NSWSC 617

New South Wales Supreme Court CITATION : Coe v Residential Tenancies Tribunal & Anor [1999] NSWSC 617 revised - 06/07/99 CURRENT JURISDICTION : Administrative Law Division FILE NUMBER(S) : 30006/99 HEARING DATE(S) : 22 June 1999 JUDGMENT DATE : 22 June 1999

PARTIES : Isabell Edith Coe (Plaintiff / Respondent on Notice of Motion) Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council (Second Defendant / Applicant on Motion of Motion) JUDGMENT OF : Dunford J

LOWER COURT JURISDICTION : Residential Tenancies Tribunal LOWER COURT FILE NUMBER(S) : 98/19164 LOWER COURT JUDICIAL OFFICER :

COUNSEL : Ms Gillespie (Plaintiff / Applicant) Mr Murr SC (Second Defendant / Respondent) SOLICITORS : Woolf Associates (Second Defendant / Respondent) CATCHWORDS : LANDLORD AND TENANT - Residential Tenancy Agreement - Non-payment of rent - Powers of the Local Aboriginal Land Council. ACTS CITED : Residential Tenancies Act 1987 Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 DECISION : Summons dismissed.

THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES ADMINISTRATIVE LAW DIVISION DUNFORD J TUESDAY 22 JUNE 1999 30006/99 - Isabell Edith COE v Residential Tenancies Tribunal & Anor JUDGMENT 1 HIS HONOUR: This is an appeal pursuant to s 107(2) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 (the Act) from a decision of the Residential Tenancies Tribunal (the Tribunal) dated 16 December 1998. 2 By that decision the Tribunal made an order for the termination and possession of premises at 8 Porter Avenue, Marrickville, and ordered the present plaintiff to pay to the second defendant, the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, $6,795.60 on account of rent to that date, payable by instalments of not less than $100 per week, the first payment on 30 December 1998 and a daily occupation fee at the rate of $8.57 per day from 17 December 1998 until the date on which the possession should be given. 3 The original summons was filed on 19 January this year and on 2 March an order was made that execution of the order of the Tribunal be stayed, and that order has been extended from time to time. 4 The defendant, on 23 March this year, filed a notice of motion seeking summary judgment pursuant to SCR Pt 13 r 5 and that is the motion that is before me for hearing today. 5 There have been a number of adjournments in the past because Miss Coe has not been able to arrange adequate legal representation, and on a number of occasions my Associate has received messages that the counsel then involved was not available on the particular day. Accordingly, on 1 June I indicated that the matter would proceed today irrespective of Miss Coe's representation, and today she has been represented by Miss Gillespie, who has not previously been in the matter. 6 Miss Gillespie sought an adjournment, but in view of the length of time that the matter had been outstanding and as the reasons of the Tribunal were available and the only appeal is on a matter of law, I refused the adjournment. 7 No grounds of appeal are set out in the Summons, but two affidavits have been filed by the plaintiff; one dated 12 March 1999 and the other one dated today. In her earlier affidavit the plaintiff said that she was raising two legal issues as questions of law: "(1) Whether a victim of government genocide is entitled to a maintained dwelling for that victim and that victim's family from that government for life as immediate minimum compensation/reparation by the genocidist government for acts of genocide ... ...