Sino Iron Pty Ltd v Palmer

Sino Iron Pty Ltd commenced proceedings against Clive Palmer and others, alleging breaches of trust in relation to monies held in a fund established under a contractual arrangement. The defendants applied to have the proceedings stayed on various grounds, including that the action was an abuse of process, lacked reasonable grounds, contained fictitious causes of action, had a collateral and improper purpose, and brought the administration of justice into disrepute. The defendants also argued that the proceedings were an impermissible parallel proceeding with a concurrent arbitration. The legal issues before the court were whether the plaintiffs' action was bound to fail, whether the plaintiffs had suffered any loss, and whether the proceedings should be stayed as an abuse of process.

The court considered the defendants' submissions and found that the plaintiffs' action was not bound to fail as it could be shown that the funds were impressed with a trust. The court also found that the plaintiffs had suffered a loss as the funds had not been used for the specified purposes under the contract. The court held that the proceedings were not an abuse of process, and therefore dismissed the application. The court held that the plaintiffs had failed to accept compromises offered by the defendants, and that the proceedings were not an impermissible parallel proceeding with a concurrent arbitration.

The court ordered that the application filed on 22 August 2014 be dismissed and that the costs of the application be reserved until 26 November 2014.