Nationwide Pacific NL v Range Resources Ltd

In the Supreme Court of Western Australia, the case of Nationwide Pacific NL v Range Resources Ltd involved two separate applications by Nationwide Pacific NL and Pacific Islands Gold NL to set aside statutory demands issued by Range Resources Ltd. The dispute centred around the interpretation of a clause in a 1997 agreement, which stipulated that if certain conditions were not met, a balance of $1,400,000 would be payable by the plaintiffs to Range Resources by 1 January 2000, with a potential extension to 1 January 2001. The plaintiffs argued that after Mt Kasi, a subsidiary of Nationwide Pacific NL, entered into a scheme of arrangement with its creditors in 1998, Range Resources' claims were barred and extinguished, and thus no money was due under the 1997 agreement. The court had to determine whether there was a genuine dispute between the parties, as required by Section 459H(1)(a) of the Corporations Law.

The court found that there was indeed a genuine dispute regarding the interpretation of the clause in the 1997 agreement. The plaintiffs' argument that the scheme of arrangement barred and extinguished Range Resources' claims was highly persuasive. The court refrained from determining the dispute but found that there was a genuine dispute in relation to the debt. Consequently, the statutory demand was set aside, and the court would hear the parties regarding the precise form of order and costs.