Haraba Pty Ltd as trustee for the Haraba Trust trading as Brisbane Gateway Resort v Mortley

Haraba Pty Ltd as trustee for the Haraba Trust trading as Brisbane Gateway Resort sought judicial review of a decision of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT). The resort was a party to an assignment of site agreement with Mortley, who was the owner of a caravan park. The dispute arose from the resort's attempt to assign the agreement to another party and Mortley's refusal to consent to the assignment. The resort alleged that Mortley's refusal was unreasonable, and that the terms of the agreement were ambiguous.

The court was required to decide several legal issues, including whether Mortley's refusal to consent to the assignment was unreasonable, whether the terms of the agreement were ambiguous, and whether evidence of surrounding circumstances could be used to interpret the terms. The court also had to consider the impact of changes to legislation affecting park owners on the interpretation of the agreement. Additionally, the court needed to determine the appropriate use of explanatory notes in interpreting a Form 8 statutory instrument.

The court found that Mortley's refusal to consent to the assignment was unreasonable, as it was not based on any legitimate business reason. The court also found that the terms of the agreement were not ambiguous and that evidence of surrounding circumstances could not be used to interpret the terms. The court held that the purpose of the legislation was to protect park owners and that the explanatory notes could not be used to interpret the terms of the agreement in a way that would defeat that purpose. The court further held that there were no pleadings in the Tribunal and that a pre-emptive order was appropriate in this case. The appeal was allowed in part, and the resort was granted leave to appeal. The court deleted Order 2 of the orders of the Tribunal and dismissed the appeal in all other respects.