In his announcement, President Robert is quoted: "By now it is well known that our Club appealed the decision of the State Revenue Office to impose stamp duty on the purchase of our new office at 15 Collins Street. The first appeal was heard at VCAT, and the second appeal was put before the Supreme Court.
It was necessary to establish that all of the purposes of the Rotary Club of Melbourne should be regarded as legally charitable. This was no easy task, but was taken up enthusiastically by several people in particular who felt strongly that the great work of Rotary should be recognised as such.
Preparing for these appeals required significant commitment and a huge amount of work over a period of some three years. Though our appeals were unsuccessful, the Supreme Court judge expressed admiration for the work of Rotary and its members.
We are today thanking and acknowledging the following four people who gave generously of their time and personal resources in running these legal cases on behalf of Rotary Melbourne:
1. Tony Greenwood, who produced all the evidence, including assisting Peter Rogers in preparing a lengthy and detailed affidavit which became the foundation of our argument, liaising at all times with our Senior Counsel and keeping the Board fully informed throughout the process;
2. Peter Rogers, who carried out extensive research and was professionally guided ahead of a gruelling two days-long cross-examination in the witness box by the State Revenue Office’s Senior Counsel;
3. Jennifer Batrouney QC, who represented the Club as Senior Counsel, and who passionately acted on a pro bono basis throughout both appeals with the assistance of her team of two junior barristers producing deeply researched written submissions for both VCAT and the Court;
4. Peter Davis, who acted pro bono in his role as solicitor for the Club, from the first application to the Revenue Office, attended efficiently to all procedural matters and made certain we that complied with all time limits and requirements throughout the case."
