Brown v Riverstone Meat Co Pty Ltd

The case of Brown v Riverstone Meat Co Pty Ltd involved a prosecution brought by William Albert Brown, an officer of the Trade Practices Commission, against Riverstone Meat Company Proprietary Limited for alleged contraventions of s.53(a) of the Trade Practices Act 1974. The prosecution alleged that the defendant falsely represented the composition of meat products supplied, specifically that meat labelled as "beef head meat" contained ovine and porcine meat, and that meat labelled as "mutton skirts" contained bovine meat. The court found the defendant guilty of 24 out of 25 charges of false representation. The court rejected the defendant's arguments that the representations were not made in trade or commerce, that the prosecutor had not proven the falsity of the representations beyond reasonable doubt, and that the contraventions were due to reasonable mistake. The court imposed fines totalling $30,000, with specific provisions to avoid duplication of penalty in certain instances. The defendant was also ordered to pay the costs of the prosecution.