Treasury Wine Estates Vintners Ltd v Garrett

Treasury Wine Estates Vintners Limited and Treasury Wine Estates Limited (collectively referred to as "TWE") brought an application against Andrew Garrett for the statutory demands for payment served by Mr Garrett to be set aside. The demands related to debts owed by TWE under a Deed of Settlement. The application was heard by Bromberg J in the Federal Court of Australia. The court was required to determine whether Mr Garrett's statutory demands for payment were in breach of a vexatious proceedings order and if the statutory demands were genuine or should otherwise be set aside. The court found that the statutory demands served by Mr Garrett constituted the institution of a proceeding within the meaning of s 37AQ(1) of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth). The court was assisted by the decision in HWY Rent Pty Ltd v HWY Rentals (in liq)(No 2) [2014] FCA 449, where Perry J held that a request to issue a bankruptcy notice constituted the taking of a step necessary before proceedings in a court may be started against a debtor by way of a creditor’s petition. The court concluded that Mr Garrett’s statutory demands were served in contravention of s 37AQ(1) of the FCA. Accordingly, the statutory demands were set aside and Mr Garrett was ordered to pay TWE’s costs of the application.