Brisbane City Council v. Valuer-General (Q)

140 CLR 41
21 ALR 607

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Court:

Judges: Gibbs J.
Stephen J.
Mason J.
Murphy J.
Aickin J.

Hearing date: 29 May 1978; 30 May 1978
Judgment date: 24 October 1978

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ORDER

Appeal allowed with costs. Judgment of the Full Court of the Supreme Court of Queensland set aside and in lieu thereof order that:

(1)

the questions in the case stated be answered as follows -

(a)

Was the Land Appeal Court in error or mistaken in law in the extent to which it took into account the fact that the Brisbane City Council, as a water authority, derived revenue from the distribution and use of some of the impounded water of the dam, held by and within the subject dam and the subject parcels of land?

Answer: No.

(b)

Should the Land Appeal Court have held that the submerged parts of each parcel of the subject parcels had a minimum unimproved value as grazing land?

Answer: No.

(c)

Was the Land Appeal Court in error or mistaken in law in not regarding the concrete structure of the dam, and the impounded waters held by it spreading over each of the subject parcels, as improvements which ought to have been notionally removed to arrive at the proper unimproved value of each parcel?

Answer: No.

(d)

Having regard to the state of the evidence and the relevant onus of proof, was the Land Appeal Court in error or mistaken in law in the determining the value of the submerged lands at $1 per acre?

Answer: No.

(e)

Was the Land Appeal Court in error or mistaken in law in the method which it adopted in the determination of the unimproved values of each of the 8 disputed parcels?

Answer: No.

(f)

Having regard to the state of the evidence and the relevant onus of proof, was the Land Appeal Court in error or mistaken in law in disturbing the Valuer-General's reduced determinations as set out in par. 18 hereof?

Answer: No.

(2)

Brisbane City Council recover against the Valuer-General its costs of the appeal to the Full Court of the Supreme Court to be taxed.