Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture Pty Ltd v HTC Trading Pty Ltd [2019] FCA 1995

Gold Coast Marine Aquaculture Pty Ltd v HTC Trading Pty Ltd [2019] FCA 1995

Gold Coast Marine satisfied each element of r 7.23. The reports and affidavit available to it established a reasonable belief that it may have claims against HTC and the Department; its inquiries left it without sufficient information to decide responsibly whether to sue; and HTC and the Department had or were likely to have directly relevant documents. Section 644 of the Biosecurity Act 2015 (Cth) did not defeat the application at the preliminary stage because any immunity defence would need to be raised and established by the Department. The possibility that documents from one prospective respondent might also be relevant to another did not preclude discovery, although any use beyond...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
27 November 2019
Procedural Posture
Application for Preliminary Discovery Under R 7.23 of the Federal Court Rules 2011 / Judgment on Originating Application; Consent Discovery Orders Had Been Made Against the Second and Third Respondents, and the Application Remained Opposed by HTC and the Department
Outcome
Preliminary discovery should be ordered, with the parties directed to provide a minute of orders for discovery in accordance with the reasons.
Legal Topics
['preliminary Discovery' 'reasonable Belief in Potential Right to Obtain Relief' 'reasonable Inquiries and Insufficient Information' 'documents Directly Relevant to Deciding Whether to Commence Proceedings' 'biosecurity Act 2015 (cth) Statutory Immunity' 'implied Undertaking as to Use of Discovered Documents']
['practice and Procedure' 'biosecurity' 'negligence' 'administrative and Regulatory Liability'] ['preliminary Discovery' 'reasonable Belief in Potential Right to Obtain Relief' 'reasonable Inquiries and Insufficient Information' 'documents Directly Relevant to Deciding Whether to Commence Proceedings' 'biosecurity Act 2015 (cth) Statutory Immunity' 'implied Undertaking as to Use of Discovered Documents']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Application for Preliminary Discovery Under R 7.23 of the Federal Court Rules 2011 / Judgment on Originating Application; Consent Discovery Orders Had Been Made Against the Second and Third Respondents, and the Application Remained Opposed by HTC and the Department

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether Gold Coast Marine reasonably believed it may have a right to obtain relief from HTC and the Department for damage allegedly caused by the White Spot Syndrome Virus outbreak.' 'Whether Gold Coast Marine had made reasonable inquiries and still lacked sufficient information to decide whether to commence proceedings.' 'Whether HTC and the Department had, or were likely to have had, documents directly relevant to whether Gold Coast Marine had a right to obtain relief and whether inspection would assist the decision whether to sue.' 'Whether the possible immunity in s 644 of the Biosecurity Act 2015 (Cth) meant Gold Coast Marine could not reasonably believe it may have a right to obtain relief from the Department.' 'Whether preliminary discovery should be refused because information obtained from one prospective respondent might be relevant to a claim against another prospective respondent.' "Whether the Department's discovery should extend to the whole Operation Cattai file."]

Ratio Decidendi

Gold Coast Marine satisfied each element of r 7.23. The reports and affidavit available to it established a reasonable belief that it may have claims against HTC and the Department; its inquiries left it without sufficient information to decide responsibly whether to sue; and HTC and the Department had or were likely to have directly relevant documents. Section 644 of the Biosecurity Act 2015 (Cth) did not defeat the application at the preliminary stage because any immunity defence would need to be raised and established by the Department. The possibility that documents from one prospective respondent might also be relevant to another did not preclude discovery, although any use beyond...

Court Disposition

Preliminary discovery should be ordered, with the parties directed to provide a minute of orders for discovery in accordance with the reasons.

Orders

  • ['The parties provide a minute of orders for discovery in accordance with these reasons.']