Matthews v SPI Electricity and SPI Electricity Pty Ltd v Utility Services Corporation Ltd (Ruling No 2)

The case involves an application for summary judgment, with Matthews suing SPI Electricity and SPI Electricity Pty Ltd, and SPI Electricity cross-claiming against Utility Services Corporation Ltd. The dispute arises from the devastating Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria in 2009. The applicants sought to have the Statement of Claim and cross-claims against the State of Victoria struck out, arguing that there were no real prospects of success.

The central legal issue was whether statutory duties imposed by the Emergency Management Act 1986 and DISPLAN created a duty of care, and if an arguable common law duty was owed by members of the Victoria Police to individuals threatened by the fires. The applicants contended that the statutory framework did not impose a duty of care on the police, and that no such duty existed at common law.

The Court considered the principles governing strike-out applications under Rule 23.01(1)(a) of the Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2005 and Section 63 of the Civil Procedure Act 2010. It concluded that the plaintiffs had no real prospects of success due to the absence of a statutory duty of care and the absence of an arguable common law duty. The application for summary judgment was therefore granted, and the claims against the State of Victoria were dismissed.

The Court ordered that the Statement of Claim and cross-claims against the State of Victoria be struck out. Additionally, the Court directed that the plaintiffs pay the applicants’ costs of the proceedings, including the costs of the strike-out application.