Damian Clothier KC, Matthew Doyle and Jonathan Hohl appeared for the applicant, instructed by Corrs Chambers Westgarth.
This judgment concerned the issue of costs owing to the applicant, BUMA, after it was awarded a total of $32,052,279 under a Contract Mining Agreement between it and the respondent, QPC, in BUMA Australia Pty Ltd v Queensland Power Company Pty Ltd [2025] QSC 338. BUMA sought its costs on an indemnity basis from the day after it had made a Calderbank offer, which was more favourable to QPC than the court’s judgment, but which QPC had rejected. QPC argued that BUMA’s costs should be assessed on the standard basis only, having regard in particular to the stage of the proceeding at which the offer was made, the parties’ relative prospects of success at that stage, and the extent of the compromise offered. Freeburn J did not accept QPC’s contentions on those issues, and held that its rejection of BUMA’s Calderbank offer justified a departure from the usual rule that costs were to be awarded on the standard basis.
The judgment can be read by clicking here
