Citrus Queensland Pty Ltd v Sunstate Orchards Pty Ltd (No 7)

• Jurisdiction: Australia Federal only
• Judgment Date: 05 September 2008
• Neutral Citation: [2008] FCA 1364
• Court: Federal Court

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Citrus Queensland Pty Ltd v Sunstate Orchards Pty Ltd (No 7) [2008] FCA 1364

TRADE PRACTICES – misleading or deceptive conduct pursuant to sections 52 and 53A Trade Practice Act 1974 (Cth) (the Act) – sale of citrus orchards – multiple alleged representations – written and oral representations – whether falsity of representations established on evidence – whether materiality in inaccuracy of trading figures a relevant consideration – silence as misleading or deceptive conduct – possibility of employee resigning – non-disclosure of management records – non-disclosure of internal working documents – whether obligation to disclose

TRADE PRACTICES – representations with respect to future matters pursuant to section 51A of the Act – reversal of onus of proof – whether representations made – whether reasonable grounds for making representations – nature of budgetary forecasts – relevance of past performance to reasonableness of future representations

TRADE PRACTICES – accessorial liability pursuant to section 75B of the Act – test established in Yorke v Lucas – knowledge of the essential elements of contravention – adequacy of pleadings

TRADE PRACTICES – whether applicants suffered loss or damage by conduct of respondents pursuant to section 82 of the Act

TRADE PRACTICES – authority to bind body corporate pursuant to section 84 of the Act – whether third respondent’s conduct within scope of actual or apparent authority

EVIDENCE – expert agronomist – admissibility of expert opinion evidence – whether practice direction breached – reliance on unidentified third party data – existence of basis rule pursuant to section 79 Evidence Act 1995 (Cth) – whether expert opinion hearsay – relevance of opinion evidence pursuant to sections 55 and 56 Evidence Act – failure of expert to visit property – discretion to exclude evidence pursuant to section 135 Evidence Act – weight attributed to expert opinion based on unidentified sources

EVIDENCE – assessment of witness credibility – weight of evidence given to witness – findings of fact influenced by credit – competing evidence by key witnesses – failure to call witnesses – whether negative inference drawn

EVIDENCE – unsigned statement – weight attributed to unsigned statement – witness not called

PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – clarity of pleadings – whether pleadings have sufficient clarity for respondents to meet case

PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – interest on damages – correct rate of interest owing pursuant to section 51A Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth)

Held: application dismissed – cross-claim allowed – no accessorial liability in second or third respondents

Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) Pt 5.3A

Evidence Act 1995 (Cth) ss 55, 56, 79, 135

Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth) s 51A

Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) ss 4, 51A, 52, 53A, 75B, 80, 82, 84, 87

Supreme Court Act (Qld) s 47

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CITRUS QUEENSLAND PTY LTD (ACN 110 885 359), PETER MICHAEL TRACY and SUNSTATE CITRUS PTY LTD (ACN 112 847 560) (SUBJECT TO DEED OF COMPANY ARRANGEMENT) v SUNSTATE ORCHARDS PTY LTD (ACN 095 659 733), ANDREW COLIN STRAHLEY and DAVID BREED

QUD 400 OF 2005

COLLIER J

5 SEPTEMBER 2008

BRISBANE

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

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