Denjim Pty Ltd v National Gold Pty Ltd; Denjim Pty Ltd v AU Gold Pty Ltd (No 2)

In the case of Denjim Pty Ltd v National Gold Pty Ltd; Denjim Pty Ltd v AU Gold Pty Ltd (No 2), the Ashby parties, Denjim Pty Ltd, sought an order for security for costs against the Gold parties, National Gold Pty Ltd and AU Gold Pty Ltd, pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld). The Ashby parties also sought orders for the lodgement of certain agreements with the Queensland Revenue Office for the purpose of assessing stamp duty. The Gold parties opposed the applications, arguing that the Ashby parties were not in a position where they would be unable to pay the costs of the Gold parties if ordered to do so, and that the court should defer the assessment of duty until the proceedings were determined. The court was required to decide whether the Ashby parties were in a position to pay the costs of the Gold parties if ordered to do so and whether the orders for the lodgement of the agreements with the Queensland Revenue Office should be made.

The court considered the objections to the evidence raised by the Gold parties and determined that some of the evidence should be excluded. The court found that the Ashby parties had not satisfied the requirements of r 671(a) of the UCPR, which requires the plaintiffs by counterclaim to be corporations and there to be reason to believe that those parties will not be able to pay the costs of the defendants by counterclaim if ordered to pay them. The court found that the Ashby parties had not established that they were in a position where they would be unable to pay the costs of the Gold parties if ordered to do so. The court also found that the assessment of duty should be deferred until the proceedings were determined. The court dismissed the applications filed by the Ashby parties and ordered that the Ashby parties pay the Gold parties costs of and incidental to the application to be assessed on the standard basis if not agreed.