Roufeil as Trustee of the Bankrupt Estate of Tarrant v Tarrant Enterprises Pty Ltd as Trustee for the MRT Family Trust

This matter came before Manousaridis J of the Federal Court of Australia concerning an application by Tarrant Enterprises Pty Ltd, as trustee for the MRT Family Trust, for a stay or adjournment of a proceeding commenced by the Trustee of the Bankrupt Estate of Tarrant (the Trustee). Tarrant Enterprises sought this stay pending the determination of an appeal it had lodged against earlier orders made on 10 March.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether Tarrant Enterprises' application for a stay of the Trustee proceeding should be granted. A secondary issue arose concerning the Trustee's failure to provide a "genuine steps statement" as required by the *Civil Dispute Resolution Act 2011* (Cth) prior to commencing the Trustee proceeding.

Manousaridis J reasoned that there was no utility in granting a stay or adjournment of the Trustee proceeding, as it was a properly constituted proceeding in which the claims could be litigated. The Court found that the Trustee proceeding was not vexatious. Regarding the failure to provide a genuine steps statement, the Court noted that the *Civil Dispute Resolution Act 2011* did not compel it to require the Trustee to provide such a statement retrospectively, nor did it see utility in doing so at that stage. However, the Court acknowledged that this failure might be relevant to the exercise of its power to order costs, particularly in relation to costs incurred by Tarrant Enterprises in the Federal Court appeal.

The Court dismissed Tarrant Enterprises' application for a stay or adjournment, reserved the question of costs, and set the matter down for directions.