Dovuro Pty Ltd v Wilkins

[2003] HCATrans 588

IN THE HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Office of the Registry
  Sydney  No S357 of 2002

B e t w e e n -

DOVURO PTY LIMITED

Applicant

and

ROBERT JOHN WILKINS, EILEEN JOYCE WILKINS, TREVOR IAN WILKINS, SUSAN CAROLINE WILKINS and LOCHIEL NOMINEES PTY LIMITED as trustee for THE R & E WILKINS FAMILY TRUST all trading as R & E WILKINS

First Respondent

CROP MARKETING NEW ZEALAND SOCIETY LIMITED

Second Respondent

Summonses

McHUGH J

(In Chambers)

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

AT SYDNEY ON TUESDAY, 18 FEBRUARY 2003, AT 9.31 AM

Copyright in the High Court of Australia

MR B.W. RAYMENT, QC:   May it please your Honour, I appear for Dovuro Pty Limited.  (instructed by Griffith Hack Lawyers) 

MR J.E. ROWE:   May it please your Honour, I appear for the first respondents.  (instructed by Long Howland Houston) 

MR M. DEMPSEY:   May it please your Honour, I appear for QBE.  (instructed by Wotton & Kearney)

HIS HONOUR:   Now, the Court received a facsimile message yesterday from Griffith Hack in which the liquidator seeks an adjournment of the notices of motion hearing.  Is that so, Mr Rayment?

MR RAYMENT:   Yes, it is, your Honour.  It is to do with his own lack of familiarity with the matter.  He comes into it, as it were, at the heel of the hunt, after the directors have commenced proceedings.

HIS HONOUR:   This matter has been listed for hearing before the Full Court on 12 March but the appeal books have not been filed and they should have been filed on 10 February, I think, from recollection.

MR RAYMENT:   Yes.  Your Honour, obviously some urgent negotiations need to take place between the liquidator and certain other parties to make sure that this matter is going to be ready to proceed.  Your Honour, I myself only learnt of the position which your Honour is now apprised of late last week.  It is proposed to have certain conferences over the next few days to make certain that the matter will be ready to proceed, or to know the position the other way if it is not to.

Your Honour, it is my hope that we would, assuming that it will all be back on track, as it were, within the next few days, be in a position where the appeal book will be filed immediately.

HIS HONOUR:   Yes.  You have to face up to an application for security for costs.

MR RAYMENT:   Yes.  Well, that is a perfectly proper application, but it could be that that matter would also be attended to as well.

HIS HONOUR:   Yes.  What do you say, Mr Rowe, about this application for adjournment?  It seems reasonable.

MR ROWE:   We are, more or less, in your Honour’s hands.  It has caught us all by surprise actually the liquidation.

HIS HONOUR:   Yes.  Mr Dempsey, on one view, your application may be irrelevant really if this matter does not proceed.

MR DEMPSEY:   That is so, your Honour.

HIS HONOUR:   Well, I think I will adjourn the notice of motion in Dovuro, but you cannot expect much time, Mr Rayment.  Your client will have to act quite speedily.  I will list this matter again for next Monday, subject to counsel's convenience.  Mr Rowe, would that suit your convenience?

MR ROWE:   Your Honour, I am not in a position to actually tell your Honour that, but I think it will have to.

MR RAYMENT:   Yes, your Honour.

HIS HONOUR:   Yes.  Mr Dempsey?

MR DEMPSEY:   Yes, your Honour, it is convenient.

HIS HONOUR:   I will stand the notice of motion in Dovuro over until Monday next, 24 February.  Mr Rayment, I expect you to have some instructions as to what the fate of the case is likely to be.

MR RAYMENT:   Yes, thank you, your Honour.

HIS HONOUR:   Yes.  The notices of motion are adjourned until Monday next at 10.00 am.

AT 9.35 AM THE MATTER WAS ADJOURNED
UNTIL MONDAY, 24 FEBRUARY 2003