Paxton v Blenkinsop Nominees Pty Ltd

The case of Paxton v Blenkinsop Nominees Pty Ltd involved an application by the first and fourth defendants to dismiss the plaintiff's action for lack of prosecution. The plaintiff, Mark Ashley Paxton, alleged that the defendants breached a collateral agreement by cancelling his fishing licence and selling it to another party. The defendants argued that the plaintiff failed to make payments as per the agreement and sought dismissal of the action due to inordinate and inexcusable delay. The court considered the relevant principles for exercising its discretion to dismiss an action for want of prosecution and the circumstances of the case. The court found that while the plaintiff's delay was inordinate and inexcusable, the hardship to him if the action were dismissed would exceed the hardship to the defendants if it were allowed to proceed. Therefore, the court decided not to accede to the application and ordered the plaintiff to achieve entry on or before a certain date, failing which the action would be dismissed.