The presiding judge of the case regarding the sale of the Cyprus Community of NSW’s flagship property in Stanmore has rendered his verdict, ruling in favour of the administrators.
Justice Black’s decision is officially ruling in favour of Morgan Kelly and David Kennedy, the voluntary administrators of the Community from Ernst and Young.
The decision means the judge ruled they have the authority to sell the core property of the Community, referring in this case to their Stanmore property.
The matter boiled down to a matter of two different acts, the Registered Clubs Act (state level) and the Corporations Act (federal level), with the lawyer representing the members opposing the administrators arguing a section of the RCA (s 41E) prevents them from selling the club’s main property without member consultation and approval.
The judge did not agree with that assessment, as seen in the Caselaw file on the case, but stipulated that even if the defence was correct the administrator would still have the authority to sell the property as the Corporations Act takes priority over the RCA in this situation.
He is quoted as saying in the Caselaw file:
“For these reasons, if, contrary to the conclusion that I have reached, s 41E of the RCA had the effect for which Ms Anastasiou contends, I would have held that it was inconsistent with and displaced by s 437A(1)(c) of the Act in respect of the exercise of a voluntary administrator’s exercise of a power to sell the core property of a registered club that was incorporated under the Act.”
The decision can be appealed and lodged with the Court of Appeal of NSW.
