Administration of a statutory compensation scheme by a government department, including the acquisition and disposal of cattle pursuant to that scheme, does not constitute 'carrying on a business' within s 3(1) of the Fair Trading Act 1987 (NSW), even where the disposal involves commercial transactions such as sale to abattoirs. A representation that approval of a proposal is 'highly likely' is insufficient to found either a contract or an equitable estoppel, because such a representation is too equivocal to make it unconscionable for the representor to resile. The scope of a government authority's duty of care for pure economic loss caused by misleading representations in the course of administering legislation was left open for further determination.
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