Graham v Moree Local Aboriginal Land Council

The case of Graham v Moree Local Aboriginal Land Council was heard by the New South Wales Supreme Court. The dispute between the parties centred around a proposed agreement for lease of certain land owned by the Moree Local Aboriginal Land Council. The respondent, Graham, alleged that the respondent breached an implied term of the agreement that it would use reasonable efforts to obtain the necessary consents for the grant of the lease. Graham sought an order for specific performance of the agreement for lease, which would have required the respondent to execute the lease documents.

The primary legal issue for the court to decide was whether an implied term existed in the agreement for lease that the respondent would use reasonable efforts to obtain the necessary consents for the grant of the lease. The court needed to determine if the circumstances of the case warranted such an implication, and if so, whether the respondent had breached that term. Furthermore, the court had to consider the appropriate remedy for the breach of the implied term, given that specific performance was not available.

In delivering the judgment, the court found that an implied term had indeed been incorporated into the agreement for lease, requiring the respondent to use reasonable efforts to obtain the necessary consents. The court emphasised that the agreement explicitly provided for the grant of a lease upon the satisfaction of certain conditions, including the acquisition of necessary consents. Given that the respondent had failed to use reasonable efforts to obtain the required consents, it had breached the implied term. The court held that specific performance was not an appropriate remedy in this instance due to the nature of the consents required, and instead ordered the respondent to compensate the applicant for the loss suffered as a result of the breach.

The court ordered the Moree Local Aboriginal Land Council to pay Graham the sum of $50,000 in compensation for the loss suffered due to the breach of the implied term.