We are pleased to have assisted our client Cygnet Bay Consolidated Pty Ltd to prevail in respect of a challenge by Paspaley Pearling Company Pty Ltd (and its associated entity Blue Seas Pearling Pty Ltd) to the issue to our client of 2 x pearl oyster farm leases in waters off Cape Villaret, south-west of Broome, Western Australia.
The State Administrative Tribunal, in a decision handed down yesterday ([2024] WASAT 108), decided to dismiss the applications for review by Paspaley Pearling Company Pty Ltd (and its associated entity Blue Seas Pearling Pty Ltd) and to issue the 2 x pearl oyster farm leases to our client Cygnet Bay Consolidated Pty Ltd.
In reaching the decision, the State Administrative Tribunal found, inter alia, that in considering the interests of the pearling industry “the ultimate consideration must be the interests of the industry as a whole and the interests of one or more individual operators, even if they dominate the industry, cannot be confused for those of the industry” ([184]).
We congratulate our client Cygnet Bay Consolidated Pty Ltd on this outcome and wish it continued success in its pearling and other operations.
