Redmeat Pty Ltd v Australian Meat Holdings Pty Ltd

Redmeat Pty Ltd brought an action against Australian Meat Holdings Pty Ltd for contravention of the Trade Practices Act and for damages for negligent misstatement. Australian Meat Holdings Pty Ltd brought an application to strike out the proceeding as an abuse of process and on the basis that the pleaded claim is fundamentally defective. The proceeding was dismissed by the court. The plaintiffs' conduct of the proceeding was found to be oppressive and vexatious, and the pleaded claim was considered to be fundamentally defective as it did not include a plea of detrimental reliance in support of the cause of action. Additionally, related proceedings had been dismissed, which further supported the conclusion that the proceeding should be struck out. The plaintiff was ordered to pay the defendant's costs of and incidental to the proceeding, and leave was given to other parties to apply for an order under section 6 of the Vexatious Proceedings Act 2005.