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Key decisions

  • Mallonland Pty Ltd v Advanta Seeds Pty Ltd [2024] HCA 25
  • BQ v The King [2024] HCA 29
  • Steven Moore (a pseudonym) v The King [2024] HCA 30

NEGLIGENCE

Duty of care – pure economic loss

In Mallonland Pty Ltd v Advanta Seeds Pty Ltd [2024] HCA 25 (7 August 2024) the High Court dismissed an appeal from the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Queensland with costs.

Advanta Seeds Pty Ltd (‘Advanta’) is a seed producer. Mallonland Pty Ltd (‘Mallonland’) is a farming company growing sorghum crops. The issue before the High Court was whether Advanta owed Mallonland a duty of care to take reasonable care in production to avoid risk of economic loss to Mallonland.

Mallonland purchased bags of sorghum seeds from an Advanta authorised distributor to sow in the 2010/2011 planting season. There was a hidden defect. The bags of sorghum contained another very similar looking seed mixed in with the sorghum. This seed was called shattercane, a genetically related seed, so called because the seedhead shatters and distributes the seeds.

Mallonland was required to undertake costly action to remove the contamination.

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