Maroon v Aquamore Credit Equity Pty Limited

In the Federal Circuit Court, Maroon, a creditor, brought proceedings against Aquamore Credit Equity Pty Limited (second defendant) and another entity. The matter was dismissed by consent except for the proceedings against Aquamore, which continued. Aquamore served a notice of action on the trustee in bankruptcy of the plaintiffs, leading to the trustee being deemed to have abandoned the action. The plaintiffs did not prosecute the proceedings against Aquamore with due despatch, resulting in the dismissal of the proceedings against Aquamore. The fourth plaintiff sought to make submissions regarding costs due to their sufficient interest, despite not claiming any relief against Aquamore. The court dismissed the proceedings against Aquamore and did not make a costs order against the fourth plaintiff. The third plaintiff applied to make a claim after the reasons for the decision were delivered and sought to revisit the orders made. The court did not change the orders.

The court considered whether the fourth plaintiff had standing to make submissions about costs, despite not claiming any relief against Aquamore. The court held that the fourth plaintiff had standing to make submissions regarding costs, as they had a sufficient interest in the proceedings. However, the court dismissed the proceedings against Aquamore due to the lack of prosecution with due despatch. The court also considered the third plaintiff's application to make a claim after the reasons for the decision were delivered and to revisit the orders made. The court held that the application was made out of time and did not change the orders.