Nyoni v Shire of Kellerberrin

The case of Nyoni v Shire of Kellerberrin involved a pharmacist who brought proceedings against the Shire of Kellerberrin and certain of its officials. The pharmacist alleged that the Shire and the officials had engaged in a campaign to disparage and harm his business with the aim of driving him out of business and replacing him with a pharmacist favoured by the Shire. The crux of the complaint was the Shire's publication of minutes from a Council meeting on the internet, which contained disparaging statements about the pharmacist's business. The pharmacist contended that this conduct contravened section 52 of the Trade Practices Act. The legal issues before the court were whether the publication of the disparaging information could be considered conduct "in trade or commerce" and whether the proceeding should be dismissed on the grounds that the jurisdiction of the Court had not properly been invoked or should be summarily dismissed. Additionally, the court considered whether the applicant's statement of claim should be struck out.

The court found that the publication of the disparaging information was not conduct "in trade or commerce" as it did not involve the Shire or the officials in the course of their business activities. The court ruled that the proceeding did not properly invoke the Court's jurisdiction and should be dismissed. Furthermore, the court decided that the proceeding should be summarily dismissed, and the applicant's statement of claim should be struck out. Specific paragraphs of the documents on the Court file were also to be struck out due to the nature of the claims made. The court dismissed the notices of motion filed by the respondents and reserved costs.

In summary, the Court struck out the whole of the amended statement of claim and allowed the applicant to re-amend it, reserving leave for the respondents to make any application in relation to the re-amended statement of claim. The Court ordered specific paragraphs from the amended statement of claim, the original statement of claim, and the affidavit to be struck out. The notices of motion filed by the respondents were dismissed, and costs were reserved.