Queensland Nickel Sales Pty Ltd & Ors v Mount Isa Mines Limited

[2019] QCA 32

Queensland Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Real Property
2. › Licences
3. › Termination
4. › Licence of wharf area for commercial purposes
5. › Whether termination void by reason of s 440B of Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)
6. › Whether 'lessor' in s 440B includes licensor
7. › Whether restriction on taking possession prevents giving notice of termination
8. › Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), ss 440B, 441J
1. Equity
2. › Relief against forfeiture
3. › Contractual licences
4. › Whether relief against forfeiture available in respect of contractual licence
5. › Whether absence of consent to assignment of licence precluded standing to seek relief
6. › Whether summary determination of defence appropriate where factual issues unresolved
1. Contract
2. › Penalties
3. › Right of termination for breach
4. › Whether contractual right to terminate for material breach constitutes a penalty
5. › Whether termination clause is a collateral stipulation imposing additional or different liability
6. › Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)
1. Torts
2. › Trespass to land
3. › Damages
4. › Continuing trespass by equipment remaining on land after termination of licence
5. › Whether damages quantified by prospective costs of removal recoverable for continuing trespass
6. › Distinction between prospective harm and existing burden requiring prospective expenditure to remedy

Quick Take

Section 440B of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) does not protect a company under administration from termination of a licence agreement, because 'lessor' in Item 3 does not include a licensor, and s 441J permits the giving of termination notices during administration. A contractual right to terminate for material breach is not a penalty under the Andrews v ANZ doctrine because it is not a collateral stipulation imposing additional or different liability. Damages for trespass by equipment remaining on land may be quantified by reference to prospective removal costs where the burden of removal is an existing harm, not a prospective one.