The plaintiff in this matter, Aurizon Network Pty Ltd, is the lessee of the land for the rail corridor and operator of the network and associated rail infrastructure known as the Central Queensland Coal Network. The plaintiff entered into a contract with the defendants styled as the “Wiggins Island Rail Project Deed (2011)” (“WIRP Deed”). The WIRP Deeds concerned the plaintiff funding and undertaking construction of works to upgrade the capacity of the plaintiff’s infrastructure network. The purpose of the upgrade was to transport coal from the defendants’ mines to a new coal ship terminal, called the Wiggins Island Coal Export Terminal.
The plaintiff sought to establish the liability of each defendant for amounts payable under the WIRP Deed, specifically the “WIRP Fee”. The dispute arose due to the defendants giving notice to the plaintiff under a provision of the WIRP deed, which if held to be valid, would have the effect of reducing the defendants’ liability to pay the WIRP Fee to nil.
Damian Clothier QC (with M Lyons and E Doyle-Marwick) appeared on behalf of the plaintiff, instructed by Quin Emanuel Urgquart & Sullivan.
The full case background and details of the judgment can be reviewed in this summary article.
The judgment is available here.
