[2025] WASC 126
General information, not legal advice.
Supreme Court of WA
2025-04-17
Hill J
Original judgment source is linked above.
All Documents in the Post Production Period [from 30 June 2021 until 27 November 2023], including drafts, recording or referring to the consideration by the CITIC Parties of, the preparation and submission of, and any interaction with the State (in any capacity) in relation to the 2023 MCPs [mine continuation plans].
(a) documents up to and including 14 March 2023 (Category One);
(b) documents after 14 March 2023 between people other than external legal advisors (Category Two);
(c) communications either between employees and external legal advisors or communications between external legal advisers connected with the drafting of the 2023 MCPs (Category Three);
(d) all drafts of the 2023 MCPs (Category Four);
(e) documents in connection with the presentation to the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation (DJTSI) (Category Five); and
(f) documents in connection with a letter from CITIC Limited to the Premier of Western Australia (reference 60‑062672) (Category Six).
(a) the CITIC Parties have not discharged their onus in establishing that the dominant purpose for the creation of all documents over which privilege is claimed was to obtain legal advice or to provide instructions for the purpose of obtaining legal advice;
(b) I am not satisfied that the time the documents were created, there was a real prospect of litigation or that litigation privilege attaches to any of these documents; and
(c) having inspected the sample documents:
(i) I accept and uphold the claim for privilege made in full in relation to documents 7, 13, and 15;
(ii) I accept that parts of documents 4 and 12 are properly subject to a claim of privilege although these documents in their entirety are not. Those parts of these documents that are privileged (as described below) should be redacted before these documents are produced for inspection by Mineralogy;
(iii) the CITIC Parties have not discharged their onus in establishing that documents 1, 3, 5, 9, 10, 11, and 14 are the subject of a claim for privilege. An order for inspection will be made in respect of these documents; and
(iv) I am unable to reach a conclusion on documents 2, 6, and 8 without inspecting the attachments to these documents, or in relation to the attachment to document 14. These documents should be produced to the court for inspection as soon as possible so that a final decision can be made in respect of these documents.
In respect of each proposal hereunder the Project Proponents in relation thereto shall subject to and in accordance with the EP Act and any approvals and licences required under that Act implement the approved proposals in respect of the Project in accordance with the terms thereof and subject to marketing arrangements and reasonable maintenance and operational shut down requirements the Project Proponents shall ensure continuous operation of the Project.
(a) list each communication the subject of the claim for privilege;
(b) state the form in which each communication is contained, stored or recorded, whether it is an original or a copy and the date when each was made;
(c) identify the persons between whom the communication or communications were made; and
(d) provide evidence as to the basis of the claim for legal professional privilege.[10]
(a) communications that were prepared for the purpose of being used to obtain legal advice or assistance;
(b) communications recording communications which are themselves privileged, or contain a record of those communications, or relate to information sought to enable the legal advisers to provide advice to their client or to conduct litigation;
(c) communications made with reference to litigation (either anticipated or commenced) and at the request or suggestion of the party's solicitor, or communications created for the purpose of being provided to the solicitor with the object of obtaining advice or to prosecute or defend an action; and
(d) communications containing or recording knowledge, information or beliefs of the client derived from privileged communications made to by their solicitor.
[T]he purpose and scope of the privilege is still to enable legal advice to be sought and given in confidence. In my judgment, therefore, the test is whether the communication or other document was made confidentially for the purposes of legal advice. Those purposes have to be construed broadly. Privilege obviously attaches to a document conveying legal advice from solicitor to client and to a specific request from the client for such advice. But it does not follow that all other communications between them lack privilege. In most solicitor and client relationships, especially where a transaction involves protracted dealings, advice may be required or appropriate on matters great or small at various stages. There will be a continuum of communication and meetings between the solicitor and client. The negotiations for a lease such as occurred in the present case are only one example. Where information is passed by the solicitor or client to the other as part of the continuum aimed at keeping both informed so that advice may be sought and given as required, privilege will attach. A letter from the client containing information may end with such words as 'please advise me what I should do.' But, even if it does not, there will usually be implied in the relationship an overall expectation that the solicitor will at each stage, whether asked specifically or not, tender appropriate advice.
A claim for privilege will not succeed if all that emerges is that the document is a commercial document or has been brought into existence in the ordinary course of business - In these circumstances, unless the court is satisfied that the dominant purpose is that identified in ss 118 or 119, no privilege applies. It is necessary to distinguish between documents brought into existence to communicate legal advice, and documents brought into existence to allow the party seeking to maintain privilege to invite comment on commercial alternatives available to it or to allow it to make a decision in the ordinary course of its insurance business as to whether or not to grant indemnity. The former may be privileged, but the latter is not, as it does not satisfy the dominant purpose test. The nature or character of the documents may illuminate the purpose . (citations omitted)
(a) In respect of a single multi-addressee email sent simultaneously to various individuals for advice or comment, including a lawyer for input, the purpose of the communication needs to be identified. In identifying the purpose, the court must take into account the wide scope of legal advice and the concept of 'continuum of communications'. If the dominant purpose of the communication is to settle instructions to the lawyer, the communication will be covered by legal advice privilege even if the communication is sent to the lawyer by way of information or is part of a series of communications with the dominant purpose of instructing the lawyer. However, if the dominant purpose is to obtain the commercial views of the non‑lawyer addressees, it will not be privileged even if a subsidiary purpose is to obtain legal advice from the lawyer.
(b) If the response from the lawyer contains legal advice, the communication will almost certainly be privileged even if it is copied to more than one addressee.
(c) Multi-addressee communications should be considered as separate communications between the sender and each recipient. Where the email seeks both legal advice and non‑legal advice or input, those to and from the lawyer will be privileged but otherwise they will not be privileged unless the dominant purpose is to instruct the lawyer.
Have the CITIC Parties discharged their onus in establishing that all documents are privileged?
[E]vidence by a lawyer on information and belief about his or her client's motivation in causing a communication to occur, if allowed, will not of itself be sufficient to establish that the dominant purpose of the communication attracts legal advice or litigation privilege . But the lawyer may be in a position to give admissible evidence about the circumstances surrounding the communication, which will suffice, perhaps together with inferences from the document itself, to establish the privilege. Further, the purpose of a communication between a client and a lawyer can in some circumstances be inferred from the purpose of the lawyer's retainer.
(a) follow the guidelines in the 2023 Reasons;
(b) meet all the contractual requirements under the State Agreement; and
(c) minimise the risk of Mineralogy refusing the 2023 MCPs and maximise the prospects of success of the 2023 MCPs being submitted to the State and approved.
(a) to draft and obtain 2023 MCPs which complied with the guidelines in the 2023 Reasons, complied with the State Agreement, minimised the prospect for rejection by Mineralogy and maximised the prospects of successful submission to the State;
(b) for use in any subsequent litigation between Mineralogy and the CITIC Parties concerning the 2023 MCPs, of which Mr John believed would likely be commenced following their submission;[46] and
(c) for the CITIC Parties' operational reasons, namely, to seek authorisation of the space available for waste rock and tailings storage to enable the continuation of mining.
(a) On 8 March 2023, Ms Dunn (who works with Ms Dillon in the Special Projects team), emailed Mr Goodwin (copying in Ms Dillon) a draft 2023 MCP which contains in its footer 'Allens Revision B' and contains highlighted drafting notes of Allens throughout.[50]
(b) Between 9 March 2023 and 13 March 2023, communications were exchanged between representatives of the CITIC Parties in relation to the first draft of the 2023 MCP.[51]
(c) On 14 March 2023, Mr Goodwin sent the 'first draft' of the 2023 MCP to Ms Dillon, who sent it to Allens and HSF.[52]
(d) On 17 March 2023, Allens provided to Ms Dillon (copied to HSF) a draft 'Third Sino Iron Concentrate Proposal' (or 2023 MCP).[53]
(e) On 30 March 2023, a workshop was held to discuss the 'Draft of Project Proposal for SLA Area' which was attended by representatives of the CITIC Parties, Narsimhan Sekar (a consulting mine planning expert), as well as representatives of both Allens and HSF.[54]
Category One: Documents up to and including 14 March 2023
Category Two: Documents after 14 March 2023 between people other than external legal advisors
Category Three: Communications connected with the drafting of the 2023 MCPs involving external legal advisers
(a) draft documents that have been prepared or commented on by Allens or HSF are privileged, because they may reveal confidential communications between the legal practitioner and the CITIC Parties;
(b) where the particular draft of the document was prepared by legal practitioners to be circulated to third parties or only to the client, it will be privileged; and
(c) drafts brought into existence without an intention to obtain legal advice on its contents are not privileged.
Category Five: Documents in connection with the presentation to the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation (DJTSI)
Category Six: Documents in connection with the letter to the Premier of Western Australia (reference 60-062672)
(a) the CITIC Parties' claim for privilege in relation to documents 7, 13, and 15 is properly made and that the application for inspection of these documents should be dismissed;
(b) parts of documents 4 and 12 are properly subject to a claim of privilege although these documents in their entirety are not. Those parts of the document that are privileged (as set out above) should be redacted before these documents are produced for inspection by Mineralogy;
(c) documents 1, 3, 5, 9, 10, 11 and 14 are not properly the subject of a claim for privilege. An order for inspection will be made in respect of these documents; and
(d) it is not possible to reach a concluded view on documents 2, 6 and 8 without inspecting the attachments to these documents, or on the attachment to document 14. These documents should be produced to the court for inspection so that a final decision can be made in respect of these documents.
I certify that the preceding paragraph(s) comprise the reasons for decision of the Supreme Court of Western Australia.
[1] Affidavit of Tracey Lyn Robinson filed 20 March 2025, 'TLR-01'.
[2] Affidavit of Tracey Lyn Robinson filed 20 March 2025, 'TLR-03'.
[3] Affidavit of Tracey Lyn Robinson filed 20 March 2025, 'TLR-05'.
[4] Sino Iron Pty Ltd v Mineralogy Pty Ltd [2024] WASC 242 [6] ‑ [25].
[5] Sino Iron Pty Ltd v Mineralogy Pty Ltd [No 15] [2023] WASC 56.
[6] Affidavit of David William John filed 26 March 2025 [11].
[7] Affidavit of David William John filed 26 March 2025 [13].
[8] Affidavit of David William John filed 26 March 2025 [15].
[9] In these reasons, I have referred to all drafts of these documents as the 2023 MCPs. While the agreements are described in different terms in the sample documents, including as a 'Site Lease Area - Interim MCP', any differences in the descriptions are not material to the conclusions I have reached.
[10] Rayney v AW [2009] WASCA 203 [42] citing with approval National Crime Authority v S [1991] FCA 234; (1991) 29 FCR 203, 212; Kennedy v Wallace [2004] FCAFC 337; (2004) 142 FCR 185 [13].
[11] Barnes v Commissioner of Taxation (Cth) [2007] FCAFC 88; (2007) 242 ALR 601 [18].
[12] CTC Resources NL v Australian Stock Exchange Ltd [2000] WASCA 19; (2000) 22 WAR 48 [33] ‑ [34].
[13] Carey v Korda [2012] WASCA 228; (2012) 45 WAR 181 [70].
[14] Esso Australia Resources Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation (Cth) [1999] HCA 67; (1999) 201 CLR 49 [61] (Gleeson CJ, Gaudron & Gummow JJ), [173] (Callinan J).
[15] Grant v Downs [1976] HCA 63; (1976) 135 CLR 674, 678 (Barwick CJ).
[16] Commissioner of Taxation (Cth) v Spotless Services Ltd [1996] HCA 34; (1996) 186 CLR 404, 416.
[17] AWB Ltd v Cole [2006] FCA 571; (2006) 152 FCR 382 [106] citing with approval Commissioner of Taxation (Cth) v Pratt Holdings Pty Ltd [2005] FCA 1247; (2005) 225 ALR 266 [30] (Kenny J).
[18] Commissioner of Australian Federal Police v Propend Finance Pty Ltd [1997] HCA 3; (1997) 188 CLR 501, 507 (Brennan CJ), 544 (Gaudron J), 553 - 554 (McHugh J), 571 (Gummow J), 587 (Kirby J); AWB Ltd v Cole [107].
[21] Commissioner of Taxation (Cth) v Pratt Holdings Pty Ltd [30].
[22] Commissioner of Taxation (Cth) v Pratt Holdings Pty Ltd [30].
[26] Galway v Constable [2001] QSC 180; [2002] 2 Qd R 146 [28] (Holmes J).
[27] CMA Assets Pty Ltd v John Holland Pty Ltd [No 3] [2012] WASC 501 [17].
[28] Dalleagles Pty Ltd v Australian Securities Commission (1991) 4 WAR 325, 333.
[29] Balabel v Air-India [1988] 1 Ch 317, 330 cited with approval in DSE (Holdings) Pty Ltd v Intertan Inc [2003] FCA 1191; (2003) 135 FCR 151 [21], [25] ‑ [71] (Allsop J). See also Strzelecki Holdings Pty Ltd v Cable Sands Pty Ltd [No 2] [2009] WASC 150 [24] ‑ [25] (Beech J).
[30] DSE (Holdings) Pty Ltd v Intertan Inc [51], [52], [71] cited with approval in AWB Ltd v Cole (No 5) [2006] FCA 1234; (2006) 155 FCR 30 [48].
[32] Dalleagles Pty Ltd v Australian Securities Commission (331 - 332).
[33] Hooke v Bux Global Limited [No 3] [2018] FCA 1038 [17] ‑ [20].
[35] Re Southland Coal (recs and mgrs apptd) (in liq) [2006] NSWSC 899 [14(i)].
[36] The Civil Aviation Authority v The Queen (on the Application of Jet2.com Ltd) [2020] EWCA Civ 35.
[37] The Civil Aviation Authority v The Queen (on the Application of Jet2.com Ltd) [100].
[38] Civil Aviation Authority v Jet2.com Ltd [100(iv)].
[39] TEC Hedland Pty Ltd v The Pilbara Infrastructure Pty Ltd [2020] WASC 364 [26] ‑ [29].
[40] See, for example, redacted affidavit of David William John filed 7 April 2025 [28], [32], [38], [44], [49], [58], [63], [66].
[41] See, for example, redacted affidavit of David William John filed 7 April 2025 [41] - [42].
[42] See, for example, redacted affidavit of David William John filed 7 April 2025 [52], [55], [69], [72], [76], [78].
[43] Re Southland Coal (recs and mgrs apptd) (in liq) [28].
[44] See, for example, Balabel v Air-India (330); DSE (Holdings) Pty Ltd v Inter-Tan. See also Wright Prospecting Pty Ltd v Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd [2024] WASC 132 [109].
[45] Redacted affidavit of David William John filed 7 April 2025 [22].
[46] Affidavit of David William John filed 26 March 2025 [15].
[50] Redacted affidavit of David William John filed 7 April 2025 [20(b)].
[51] Redacted affidavit of David William John filed 7 April 2025 [20].
[52] Redacted affidavit of David William John filed 7 April 2025 [20(f)], [21(a)].
[53] Redacted affidavit of David William John filed 7 April 2025 [21(b)].
[54] Redacted affidavit of David William John filed 7 April 2025 [24(a)].
[55] Redacted affidavit of David William John filed 7 April 2025 [26].
[56] Redacted affidavit of David William John filed 7 April 2025 [30].
[59] Redacted affidavit of David William John filed 7 April 2025 [38].
[61] Redacted affidavit of David William John filed 7 April 2025 [41].
[63] Redacted affidavit of David William John filed 7 April 2025 [30].
[66] Redacted affidavit of David William John filed 7 April 2025 [50] ‑ [51].
[71] Redacted affidavit of David William John filed 7 April 2025 [62] - [63].
[73] Redacted affidavit of David William John filed 6 April 2025 [63].
(1976) 135 CLR 674
(2006) 155 FCR 30
(1991) 29 FCR 203
(2000) 22 WAR 48
(2012) 45 WAR 181
(2004) 142 FCR 185
(1991) 4 WAR 325
(2003) 135 FCR 151
(2007) 242 ALR 601
(1999) 201 CLR 49
(1996) 186 CLR 404
(2006) 152 FCR 382
(2005) 225 ALR 266
(1997) 188 CLR 501