28 Jun 2013
The May 2006 agreement did not abrogate or extinguish the plaintiffs' statutory rights under s 40 of the Public Works Act 1981 because there is no clear and express language showing an intention to relinquish those rights and the factual matrix (an accepted offer later cancelled) distinguishes authorities relied on by the Crown.
14 Nov 2011
Parties may agree to waive or limit entitlement to statutory interest under s 87 by clear contractual provision; on construing the Variation Agreement in its commercial and factual context the Court held the $5,000,000 'maximum aggregate liability' cap included any award of statutory interest under s 87; the question of post-judgment interest under r 11.27 was not determined on appeal.
15 Apr 2009
The statutory offer-back right under s40 PWA vests when the s40(1) conditions are satisfied and is sufficiently certain to support a caveat; where land (or part) remains surplus and the chief executive has not validly exercised the s40(2) discretion to extinguish the right, the caveat must be sustained for that land. Conversely, where another public authority (DoC) requires the land under s40(1)(b) the caveat lapses as to that land.