High Court of Australia
HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA
GLEESON CJ,
GUMMOW, KIRBY, HAYNE, CALLINAN AND HEYDON JJ
Matter No S291/2005
RINGROW PTY LTD APPELLANT
AND
BP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD RESPONDENT
Matter No S292/2005
ULTIMATE FUEL PTY LIMITED APPELLANT
AND
BP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD RESPONDENT
Matter No S293/2005
NADER-ONE PTY LIMITED APPELLANT
AND
BP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD RESPONDENT
Ringrow Pty Ltd v BP Australia Pty Ltd
Ultimate Fuel Pty Limited v BP Australia Pty Ltd
Nader-One Pty Limited v BP Australia Pty Ltd
[2005] HCA 71
17 November 2005
S291/2005, S292/2005 and S293/2005
ORDER
Appeals dismissed with costs.
On appeal from the Federal Court of Australia
Representation:
T E F Hughes QC with T D F Hughes for the appellants (instructed by Stojanovic Solicitors)
B W Walker SC with M Walton SC and D R Sibtain for the respondents (instructed by Corrs Chambers Westgarth)
Notice: This copy of the Court's Reasons for Judgment is subject to formal revision prior to publication in the Commonwealth Law Reports.
CATCHWORDS
Ringrow Pty Ltd v BP Australia Pty Ltd
Contract – Penalty – Agreement to purchase service station from distributor of fuel – Collateral agreement requiring fuel to be purchased exclusively from distributor – Breach of collateral agreement – Termination of collateral agreement by distributor pursuant to contractual power – Option to buy back service station exercisable by distributor on termination of collateral agreement – Whether option void and unenforceable as a penalty – Whether exercise of option oppressive or extravagant and unconscionable compared with genuine pre-estimate of damage – Relevance of proportionality to penalty questions.
1. GLEESON CJ, GUMMOW, KIRBY, HAYNE, CALLINAN AND HEYDON JJ. These appeals concern the effect of contracts by which each of Ringrow Pty Ltd, Ultimate Fuel Pty Ltd and Nader-One Pty Ltd bought service stations from BP Australia Pty Ltd. The identical point arises in each appeal and it is convenient to confine analysis to the first appeal.
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