McEvoy v Commissioner of Taxation, in the matter of Careers Australia Group Limited (in liq)

The matter of McEvoy v Commissioner of Taxation, in the matter of Careers Australia Group Limited (in liq) was heard in the Federal Court of Australia. The dispute involves an interlocutory application by the defendant for relief against a third party under section 588FGA of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). The key issue before the court was whether it was procedurally appropriate or necessary for the application to be brought under Part 15 of the Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth). This decision was made in the context of broader procedural orders regarding the filing of evidence and the conduct of public examinations.

The court considered submissions from the liquidators, who opposed the immediate making of orders for the filing of evidence due to the impending public examinations related to the second plaintiff's affairs. The liquidators argued that these examinations would limit their resources for preparing evidence for the proceeding and that filing evidence prior to the examinations could interfere with their conduct. The Commissioner and Mr McKendry agreed to defer the filing of evidence until the public examinations were completed. Consequently, the court decided to defer making orders for the filing of evidence until the conclusion of the public examinations, which were scheduled to occur from early May to early June 2021.

The Federal Court issued several orders applying specific rules of the Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth) to the interlocutory application. These included applying rules 15.06, 15.09, 15.10, 15.12, and 15.13 as if the application had been commenced by way of a cross-claim under Division 15.1 of the Rules. The court also ordered that the application continue by way of pleadings, required the defendant/applicant to file and serve a Statement of Claim by a specified date, and scheduled a further case management hearing after the public examinations. Additionally, the court granted the parties liberty to apply for further orders and reserved the issue of costs.