State of Queensland v Cannon (No 3)

The case of State of Queensland v Cannon (No 3) involved the State of Queensland, acting as the applicant, and Cannon, the respondent. The primary dispute centred on the confiscation of proceeds derived from Cannon's illegal activities and the assessment of additional interest on those proceeds. The matter was heard in the Supreme Court of Queensland. The applicant sought a proceeds assessment order under section 78 of the Criminal Proceeds Confiscation Act 2002, as well as interest under section 47(1) of the Supreme Court Act 1995. The central legal issues the court had to resolve were whether an application for a proceeds assessment order constituted a "proceeding for the recovery of money" under section 47(1) of the Supreme Court Act, and if so, how the appropriate assessment of interest should be measured.

The court examined the legislative framework and found that the application for a proceeds assessment order indeed qualified as a "proceeding for the recovery of money" as per section 47(1) of the Supreme Court Act. This determination paved the way for the applicant to claim interest on the assessed value of the proceeds. Regarding the measurement of interest, the court considered the purpose of awarding interest, which is to compensate for the decline in the value of money over time. The court opted for a method that accurately reflected this decline, ultimately concluding that the appropriate interest to be added to the assessed proceeds was $4,319,699.

In its final orders, the court mandated Cannon to pay the State of Queensland the sum of $4,200,000, along with the calculated interest of $4,319,699. Additionally, the court ruled that Cannon was to cover the applicant's costs of and incidental to the proceeding for a proceeds assessment order on the standard basis. This ruling provided clarity on the applicability of interest in proceeds of crime cases and reinforced the legislative intent behind compensating for the devaluation of money over time.