The Court granted a review order under s 36 of the Magistrates Court Act 2004 (WA) and stayed a Magistrates Court order requiring the applicant to vacate residential premises, finding an arguable case that the Magistrates Court lacked jurisdiction because the lease may have been a 'sham' not intended to create genuine legal relations under the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 (WA). The Court rejected the natural justice ground, holding that the Magistrate's relatively brief treatment of submissions did not constitute a denial of procedural fairness. On the jurisdiction ground, the Court held that nominal rent of $1 per annum constituted valuable consideration, but that evidence of the parties' conduct — including representations that the lease was 'purely for insurance purposes', the defendant's failure to ever demand rent, and the defendant's demands for payments inconsistent with the lease terms — was sufficient to establish an arguable case that the lease was a sham, with reasonable prospects of success, albeit with considerable reservations pending the defendant's evidence.
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