Shellharbour City Council v Minister for Local Government [2017] NSWCA 256

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Shellharbour City Council v Minister for Local Government [2017] NSWCA 256 Hearing dates: On the papers Decision date: 12 October 2017 Before: Basten JA, Macfarlan JA, Sackville AJA Decision: (1) Dismiss the appellant's application to set aside order (2) made in the Land and Environment Court on 20 September 2016, namely that the applicant pay the respondents' costs in that Court.

(2) Make no order as to the costs of the parties in this Court. Catchwords: PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – civil – costs – challenge to validity of proposed amalgamation of local government areas – challenge dismissed at trial – respondent abandons proposal – appeal discontinued – whether success inevitable – whether respondent's conduct unreasonable – whether respondent should pay costs of trial – whether respondent should pay costs of appeal Legislation Cited: Local Government Act 1993 (NSW), s 218A Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 42.19 Cases Cited: Re Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs; Ex parte Lai Qin (1997) 186 CLR 622; [1997] HCA 6 Ku-ring-gai Council v West [2017] NSWCA 54 One Tel Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation (2000) 101 FCR 548; [2000] FCA 270 Edwards Madigan Torzillo Briggs Pty Ltd v Gloria Stack [2003] NSWCA 302 Hunter's Hill Council v Minister for Local Government [2017] NSWCA 188 Category: Costs Parties: Shellharbour City Council (Appellant) Minister for Local Government (First Respondent) NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet (Second Respondent) Mike Allen as delegate of the Acting Director-General of the Office of Local Government (Third Respondent) NSW Local Government Boundaries Commission (Fourth Respondent) Representation: Counsel: G Kennett SC/V McWilliam/C McMeniman (Appellant) T E O'Brien (First Respondent)