Queanbeyan City Council v ACTEW Corporation Ltd

The High Court of Australia considered a dispute between Queanbeyan City Council and ACTEW Corporation Ltd concerning the interpretation of a deed. The Council sought declarations that ACTEW had breached certain obligations under the deed, which governed the supply of water and sewerage services to the Queanbeyan area.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether ACTEW had breached its obligations under clause 10 of the deed by failing to provide water and sewerage services to the Queanbeyan area at a cost that was no more than the cost of providing those services to the Canberra area. The Court also had to determine the proper construction of clause 10 and its implications for the pricing of services.

The High Court held that the deed imposed an obligation on ACTEW to ensure that the cost of providing services to the Queanbeyan area was not greater than the cost of providing equivalent services to the Canberra area. The Court reasoned that the plain language of clause 10, read in context, established a comparative cost obligation. The Court rejected ACTEW's arguments that the clause was merely aspirational or that it permitted ACTEW to recover its actual costs regardless of the comparison. The Court found that ACTEW had breached this obligation.

The High Court made declarations that ACTEW had breached its obligations under clause 10 of the deed and remitted the matter to the Supreme Court of New South Wales for further proceedings to determine the appropriate relief.