[2025] FCA 482
General information, not legal advice.
Federal Court of Australia
2025-05-15
Ms J, Derrington J
Original judgment source is linked above.
Upon the usual undertaking as to damages given by Mr Marc Andrew Clancy:
1. The first and fourteenth to eighteenth respondents:
(a) notify the applicants in writing no later than 7 business days prior to the proposed settlement of any sale of any real property in Stages 7 to 11 of the development (such properties being identified in Annexure A);
(b) not assign or otherwise deal with any rights, entitlements or interests to any or all proceeds from the sale of any real property in Stages 7 to 11 (Stage 7 to 11 proceeds) under any instrument;
(c) hold in a trust account maintained by their solicitors, any or all of the Stage 7 to 11 proceeds purportedly payable to the seventeenth or eighteenth respondents pursuant to any asserted right, entitlement, or interest under any instrument;
(d) save for making any payment into a solicitors' trust account in order to comply with Order 1(c) above, not dispose of or otherwise deal with or diminish the value of the Stage 7 to 11 proceeds.
- Order 1 above is to apply until further order of the Court, or unless the applicants expressly provide prior written consent in respect of any proposed non-compliance orders, a request for such consent to be received no later than seven business days prior to the proposed non-compliance.
Variations to interlocutory injunctions
- There is little doubt that the Court has wide jurisdiction to vary or set aside any interlocutory order. There is express power to do so by r 39.05(c) of the Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth), and a similar power exists under s 1324(5) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).
- In Pivotel Satellite Pty Limited v Optus Mobile Pty Limited [2010] FCA 121 [26], Jagot J observed that, in the matter before her, the principles relating to whether a court should vary a previous interlocutory order were not in dispute and were as follows:
- Ÿ A court has jurisdiction to vary or set aside any interlocutory order but the re-litigation of issues already decided, even on an interlocutory basis, is undesirable having regard to the need for finality (Brimaud v Honeysett Instant Print Pty Ltd (1988) 217 ALR 44 at 46).
- Ÿ The "overriding principle governing the approach of the court to interlocutory applications is that the court should do whatever the interests of justice require in the particular circumstances of the case" (Brimaud at 46).
- Ÿ The interests of justice should be assessed having regard to the nature of the interlocutory order in question. Interlocutory orders that are merely procedural or made by consent without any contest are different from substantive orders made after a contested hearing and intended to operate until the final hearing. In the latter case the general rule is that there must be a material change in circumstances or the discovery of new material which could not reasonably have been put before the court on the earlier application (Brimaud at 46).
- Ÿ There is a debate in the authorities between approaches that are more and less permissive. Nevertheless the approach generally adopted at first instance accords with that of Goldberg J in P Dawson Nominees Pty Ltd v Australian Securities and Investments Commission (No 2) (2009) 255 ALR 466; [2009] FCA 413 at [49], namely, that an applicant seeking to vary a substantive interlocutory order made after a contested hearing must persuade the Court that:
... one or more of the following factors has occurred or is satisfied:
(a) there is new material or new evidence which was not available, or reasonably available, to them at the time the orders were made ...;
(b) there has been a material change in the circumstances since those orders were made;
(c) there are exceptional circumstances which warrant re-consideration of the matter...; and
(d) as a matter of discretion, the justice of the matter requires that the applicants be allowed to revisit the matter ...
There is, of course, much common sense in those principles and, to some degree, the basis for them was referred to by Yates J in Cantarella Bros Pty Ltd v Lavazza Australia Pty Ltd (No 2) [2021] FCA 894 [30]:
In the case of an interlocutory order of a substantial nature made after a contested hearing - in contemplation that the order will operate until the final disposition of the hearing - the usual rule is that a variation (or discharge) of the order must be founded on a material change in circumstances since the original application was heard, or the discovery of new material which could not reasonably have been put before the Court on the hearing of the original application: Brimaud v Honeysett (1988) 217 ALR 44 (Brimaud) at 46; Adam P Brown Male Fashions Proprietary Limited v Philip Morris Incorporated [1981] HCA 39; (1981) 148 CLR 170 (Adam P Brown) at 177-178; Hutchinson v Nominal Defendant [1972] 1 NSWLR 443 (Hutchinson) at 447.
(Emphasis omitted).
There, his Honour identified that the rationale for the usual rule was that the interlocutory order was made in contemplation that it would preserve the position until the final disposition of the hearing of the action in which it was made. In that sense, it established the status quo for the parties to the litigation pending the trial. Such orders are usually self-evident and begin with the orders "until the trial of this action ...".
So much is clear from the observations of McLelland J in Brimaud v Honeysett Instant Print Pty Ltd (1988) 217 ALR 44, 46 - 47 (which were cited with approval by Abraham J in Roberts-Smith v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Limited (No 31) [2022] FCA 271 [14]):
Interlocutory orders, of their very nature, create no res judicata or estoppel, and the court retains jurisdiction to set aside, vary or discharge an interlocutory order up to the time of the final disposition of the proceedings. However the general rationale of the principles last referred to applies even in the case of interlocutory orders. It would be conducive to great injustice and enormous waste of judicial time and resources if there were no limit on the power of a party to have any interlocutory application or order relitigated at will.
The overriding principle governing the approach of the court to interlocutory applications is that the court should do whatever the interests of justice require in the particular circumstances of the case. In giving effect to that general principle, and in recognition of the public and private interests earlier referred to, rules of practice have been developed in accordance with which the discretionary power of the court to set aside, vary or discharge interlocutory orders will ordinarily be exercised. Not all kinds of interlocutory orders attract the same considerations. For present purposes one may put to one side orders of a merely procedural nature (as to which see for example Wilkshire & Coffey v Commonwealth (1976) 9 ALR 325) and injunctions (or undertakings) made or given by agreement and without contest "until further order" (as to which see for example Warringah Shire Council v Industrial Acceptance Corp (unreported, SC(NSW), McLelland J, 22 November 1979) .
In the present case I am dealing with an interlocutory order of a substantive nature made after a contested hearing in contemplation that it would operate until the final disposition of the proceedings. In such a case the ordinary rule of practice is that an application to set aside, vary or discharge the order must be founded on a material change of circumstances since the original application was heard, or the discovery of new material which could not reasonably have been put before the court on the hearing of the original application: see Woods v Sheriff of Queensland (1895) 6 QLJ 163 at 164 -5; Hutchinson v Nominal Defendant [1972] 1 NSWLR 443 at 447 -8; Chanel Ltd v F W Woolworth & Co [1981] 1 All ER 745; [1981] 1 WLR 485; Adam P Brown Male Fashions v Philip Morris [1981] HCA 39; (1981) 148 CLR 170 at 177-8; [1981] HCA 39; 35 ALR 625 at 629-30; Butt v Butt [1987] 1 WLR 1351 at 1353; Gordano Building Contractors Ltd v Burgess [1988] 1 WLR 890 at 894.
- The foregoing views reflect the modern approach to the variation of interlocutory orders, though it must be noted that some earlier authorities suggested a slightly more stringent test in the first instance, such as the need to show "exceptional circumstances": P Dawson Nominees Pty Ltd v Australian Securities and Investments Commission (No 2) [2009] FCA 413; (2009) 255 ALR 466, 478 [39].
Consideration (2): Proof of a valuable undertaking as to damages
Where the court is balancing monetary disadvantages as between a plaintiff and defendant, the inability to give a valuable undertaking as to damages is a factor which can be taken into account in assessing the balance of convenience, and may be decisive: Wentworth v Wentworth (Unreported, Supreme Court of New South Wales, 12 June 1997, Hodgson J.)
Is there proof of a valuable undertaking as to damages?
(a) within 30 days of the date of any order of the Court, to cause up to $4 million (or any such amount ordered by the Court) to be paid into an interest bearing account maintained by Bartley Cohen, to be held to support the undertaking given by me and as recorded in the order of Justice Derrington dated 24 May 2023 in QUD93/2022 (the 24 May 2023 order) (unless such sum is otherwise already held by Bartley Cohen for this purpose);
(b) that in the event the Court determines it to be just for payment of compensation to be made to any person, whether or not that person is a party, affected by the operation of the 24 May 2023 order or any continuation (with or without variation) of that order, to do all things as are reasonably necessary to enable those persons to whom compensation has been ordered to recover such compensation out of the funds referred to in subparagraph (a) above.
Prejudice to Ultimate or UIP under the Injunction
I certify that the preceding forty-five (45) numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Reasons for Judgment of the Honourable Justice Derrington.
PARK RIDGE 96 AND 98 PTY LTD ACN 618 802 618 (RECEIVER AND MANAGER APPOINTED)
PARK RIDGE 132 PTY LTD ACN 619 053 735 (RECEIVER AND MANAGER APPOINTED)
168 PARK RIDGE PTY LTD ACN 619 549 334 168 (RECEIVER AND MANAGER APPOINTED)
PARK RIDGE 180 PTY LTD ACN 616 431 157 (RECEIVER AND MANAGER APPOINTED)
ROCHEDALE HOLDINGS PTY LTD ACN 610 535 076 (RECEIVER AND MANAGER APPOINTED)
ROCHEDALE HOLDINGS NO. 1 PTY LTD ACN 610 550 199 (RECEIVER AND MANAGER APPOINTED)
GGPG DEVELOPMENTS (NO.48) PTY LTD ACN 608 771 857 (RECEIVER AND MANAGER APPOINTED)
PARK RIDGE DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD ACN 627 401 094 (RECEIVER AND MANAGER APPOINTED)
COORPAROO HOLDINGS PTY LTD ACN 609 979 446 (RECEIVER AND MANAGER APPOINTED)
AXIS NORTH PTY LTD ACN 609 653 821 (RECEIVER AND MANAGER APPOINTED)
SIP GROUP PTY LTD ACN 610 480 914 (RECEIVER AND MANAGER APPOINTED)
SIP 1 PTY LTD ACN 611 408 925 (RECEIVER AND MANAGER APPOINTED)
ULTIMATE INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO PTY LTD ACN 611 531 778
CIP Group Pty Ltd
So
CIP Group Pty Ltd v So (No 8) [2025] FCA 482
(1981) 146 CLR 249
(1988) 217 ALR 44
(2009) 255 ALR 466
(1981) 148 CLR 170
(1985) 59 ALJR 481
(1976) 9 ALR 325