Supermega Market Ltd v Sunnya Pty Ltd

Supermega Market Ltd and Megadairy Ltd (the New Zealand Parties) sought to vacate the hearing dates fixed for appeals and related summonses. The application was heard by Basten AJA. The Sunnya Parties and the He Parties were the respondents.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the New Zealand Parties had established sufficient grounds to justify vacating the already fixed hearing dates. This involved considering the reasons provided for the application, including a change of solicitors and the alleged unavailability of counsel.

Basten AJA reasoned that the dissatisfaction with legal representatives arose six months prior to the change of solicitors, and the delay in addressing this issue was unexplained. The court noted that counsel's obligation to appear is contingent on the provision of funds, and their unavailability was likely due to the parties not providing those funds. The court distinguished this situation from earlier instances where dates were vacated due to solicitor unavailability, finding that the loss of counsel, in these circumstances, did not provide a justification for vacating the scheduled hearing dates.

Consequently, the court dismissed the Notice of Motion filed by the New Zealand Parties and confirmed the listing of the appeals and summonses for concurrent hearings on 25 and 26 November 2024. The court also ordered that the costs of the motion be payable by the applicant on the motion to the Sunnya Parties and the He Parties.