A right to a hearing found to exist in Victorian compulsory acquisition procedure

Summary

This was a compulsory acquisition case concerning an application for judicial review and declaratory relief in circumstances where the Governor in Council has certified that no reservation of land was required before service of a Notice of Intention to Acquire. The plaintiffs sought to challenge the procedural steps under the Land Acquisition and Compensation Act 1986 (LAC Act), from the initial recommendation by the Attorney-General to the Minister that reservation of the land was 'unnecessary, undesirable or contrary to the public interest' under section 5(3) of the LAC Act, up to the publication of the Notice of Acquisition under section 19.

While Justice Garde found that there was no obligation to afford procedural fairness or right to be heard at the point of recommendation or certification under section 5(3) or delivery of a Notice of Intention to Acquire under section 6, His Honour held that there is a right to be afforded procedural fairness at