Barooga Projects (Investments) P/L v Duncan

[2004] QCA 149

Queensland Court of Appeal

Built by Barristers,
For Australian Law.

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Contract
2. › Discharge, breach and defences to action for breach
3. › Repudiation and non-performance
4. › Election and rescission
5. › Effect of election not to rescind
6. › Whether demand for settlement without reservation of right to terminate constituted irrevocable election to affirm contract
7. › Whether vendor could later terminate for non-fulfilment of contingent condition
1. Contract
2. › Sale of land
3. › Contingent conditions
4. › Non-fulfilment within reasonable time
5. › Right to terminate or affirm
6. › Whether right to terminate lost by unequivocal affirmation

Quick Take

A vendor who demands settlement of a contract containing an unfulfilled contingent condition, without explicitly reserving the right to terminate for non-fulfilment of that condition, irrevocably elects to affirm the contract. A general reservation of rights 'as a consequence of the buyer's failure to settle' does not preserve the right to terminate for non-fulfilment of a contingent condition, because the right to terminate arises from non-fulfilment of the condition, not from any failure to settle.