Owston Nominees No 2 Pty Ltd v Branir Pty Ltd [2000] FCA 145

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Owston Nominees No 2 Pty Ltd v Branir Pty Ltd [2000] FCA 145

CONTRACT – oral agreement to grant a sub-lease or other interest over 20,000 acres of land subject to a pastoral lease for use as a wildlife sanctuary for the breeding and preservation of endangered and exotic animals – consent for change of use under a pastoral lease – lease in perpetuity under Crown Lands legislation – Statute of Frauds – requirement of evidence in writing of an agreement to transfer an interest in land – necessity to plead the doctrine of part performance – ascertainment and enforceability of terms under an oral agreement which is partly evidenced by writing – oral agreement to issue shares – admissibility of oral evidence – whether written document embodies the entirety of the agreement – establishment of precise terms of oral agreement where the written document does not adequately reflect the intentions of the parties ESTOPPEL – proprietary estoppel – whether representations as to the granting of a sub-lease or other interest in land under a pastoral lease and reliance on those representations gives rise to an estoppel against denying the interest in land MISLEADING AND DECEPTIVE CONDUCT – whether representations as to the granting of a sub-lease or other interest in land under a pastoral lease constituted misleading and deceptive conduct under the Corporations Law, the Trade Practices Act or the Fair Trading Act

Corporations Law s 995 Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) s 52 Fair Trading Act 1987 (NSW) Crown Lands Act 1931 (NT) ss 23A, 26 Pastoral Land Act 1992 (NT) ss 3, 38, 61, 67, 68 Crown Lands Consolidation Act 1913 (NSW)

Statute of Frauds Roach v Bickle [1915] 20 CLR 663 Davies v Littlejohn [1923] 34 CLR 174 Massart v Blight [1951] 82 CLR 423 Brown v Heffer [1967] 116 CLR 344 Regent v Millett [1976] 133 CLR 679 The Wik Peoples v State of Queensland [1996] 187 CLR 1 Pejovic v Malinic [1960] 60 SR (NSW) 184 Millett v Regent [1975] 1 NSWLR 62 BHP v Hapag-Lloyd [1980] 2 NSWLR 571 Sidney Cooke Ltd v Hapag-Lloyd [1980] 2 NSWLR 587 Francis v Francis [1952] VLR 328 Riley v Osborne [1986] VR 193 Caton v Caton [1866] LR 1 Ch App 137 Maddison v Alderson [1883] 8 AC 467 White v Nealyon [1886] 11 AC 171 (PC) Carr v McDonald's Australia Limited & Ors, Federal Court of Australia (Burchett J), unreported, 16 February 1994