The Court held that the right of a co-owner to seek appointment of a trustee for sale under the Property Law Act 2023 (Qld) retains its near as-of-right character, and that a co-owner's desire to purchase the property or the pendency of shareholder oppression proceedings does not constitute an exceptional circumstance warranting refusal. The Court declined to constrain the trustee's discretion by requiring the property to be sold together with a business operated on it, holding that the 'just and fair' criterion in s 34(1) is directed to the interests of co-owners qua co-owners and does not extend to maximising value of interests held in other capacities. The Court left open, but expressly flagged, the question whether co-owners who acquired property as a shared investment or quasi-partnership may owe equitable obligations inter se to act in each other's best interests when dealing with their individual interests.
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