Greenmint Pty Ltd v O'Keeffe

Greenmint Pty Ltd sought to set aside a statutory demand made by O'Keeffe, pursuant to section 459G of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). The dispute centred on whether the service of the sealed copy of the application and the accompanying affidavit in support by facsimile transmission was valid. The court also had to determine if there was a genuine dispute concerning the debt, given the terms of the deed signed by a director of the plaintiff that stipulated very high rates of interest, which were argued to be penalties.

The court examined whether the facsimile transmission of the sealed documents was sufficient to constitute valid service. It followed the decision in Seventh Cameo v Holdway Pty Ltd, which held that such service was valid. Additionally, the court considered whether the interest rates stipulated in the deed were penalties, applying the principles from Toll (FGCT) Pty Limited v Alphapharm Pty Limited and Kellas-Sharpe v PSAL Limited. The court concluded that the interest rates were not penalties and thus, the statutory demand was enforceable.

In light of the above, the court found that there was no genuine dispute concerning the debt. Consequently, the application to set aside the statutory demand was dismissed. The court found that the service by facsimile transmission was valid, and the terms of the deed did not constitute a genuine dispute warranting the setting aside of the statutory demand. The decision reaffirmed the enforceability of the statutory demand against Greenmint Pty Ltd.