Contemporaneous corporate records, including minutes, annual returns, financial statements and dividend payments, constitute powerful prima facie evidence of beneficial ownership of shares under ss 1305 and 251A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), and oral evidence given 27 years after the events will not readily displace such records. A party seeking a declaration bears the onus of proving all necessary elements, and a defendant's competing claim must be assessed against the totality of the evidence. Leave to amend a defence to raise an alternative case at the conclusion of final address may properly be refused where the amendment would cause procedural unfairness to the opposing party.
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