The Court dismissed the defendants' application for summary judgment, holding that the interpretation and application of the statutory defence in s 65(8) of the Trustees Act 1962 (WA) is not settled law and raises complex questions unsuitable for summary determination. Key unresolved questions identified include: whether 'good faith' requires a subjective or objective assessment (or both); what constitutes an 'alteration of position' within the statutory defence; whether a recipient's current financial incapacity is relevant to the defence or only to the manner of repayment under s 65(9); the relationship between the statutory defence and the general law change of position defence following David Securities; and whether Baden categories 4 or 5 knowledge would preclude reliance on the defence. The Court also rejected Received Pty Ltd's contention that directions given by the Federal Court in the Scheme's winding up gave rise to an issue estoppel, holding that liquidator directions do not constitute binding determinations of parties' legal positions.
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