A dispute over the ownership of the multimillion-dollar refuelling infrastructure at Cairns Airport is brewing in the courts with the petroleum companies and airport owner arguing over which historical lease or handshake agreement is in effect.
The legal stoush between Cairns Airport Holdings Limited and fuel companies, Ampol, BP and Viva Energy, relates to the joint user hydrant installation facility, which is used for aircraft refuelling.
In documents published by the Supreme Court, the fuel companies say they invested millions of dollars in the infrastructure over the years, operating with the understanding that they owned the asset, which they say was purchased in 1994 from then-owners, Cairns Port Authority.
“The Fuel Companies assert that in 1994 the joint user hydrant installation participants purchased the then existing (facility) from the Cairns Port Authority, which was then the registered owner of Cairns Airport … Thereafter, they invested millions of dollars into the facility, including by building substantial additional structures, without any doubt being cast on their ownership of those assets,” the court documents say.
But the airport says the facility is a ‘leased area’, and not owned by the companies at all, submitting that subsequent lease and licensing agreements, although one was unsigned, superseded the 1994 arrangement.
The airport is suing the companies for unpaid leasing fees.
The fuel companies, in a counterclaim, say the airport should pay them “equitable compensation or damages if it is found that they are not the owners of the (facility)”.
The court will need to untangle the legal status of the many leases, licences, master arrangements and variations entered into by past and present owners of the airport and other parties between 1987 and 2024.
In a further twist, Cairns Airport Holdings Limited has applied to the Supreme Court to have the claim and counterclaim heard separately at different trials – an application that has been rejected this month by Supreme Court Justice Sean Cooper.
Justice Cooper said there would likely be “double-handling” if the trials were separated as many of the issues in dispute would require evidence from common witnesses.
The court documents show forensic accounting will be required alongside testimony from a number of witnesses who worked for the airport in the past 40 years.
“Both the risk of inconsistent findings at separate trials and the increased time and cost involved in separate trials weighs against excluding the counterclaim from this proceeding,” Justice Cooper said.
He said the issues to be decided by the courts were complex and included “whether the 1987 Lease (as varied) and the 1994 Licence remain in effect, or whether they were replaced by later agreements,” the status of an unsigned 2015 leasing agreement, and claims that there may have been a “breach of trust” in 2008 when the Cairns Port Authority transferred ownership of the airport land.
“It is common ground that the Fuel Companies have not paid any licence fees to Cairns Airports PL for their occupation of the Licenced Area since around April 2018,” Justice Cooper wrote.
“Weighing the various matters discussed above, and acknowledging the increased complexity of the issues raised by the counterclaim … I am not persuaded that it is appropriate to order that the counterclaim, and the defence of equitable set-off … be tried separately from the claim for unpaid licence fees,” he ruled.
Extracted in full from: https://www.cairnspost.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-cairns/cairns-airport-and-fuel-giants-battle-in-court-over-multimilliondollar-asset-ownership/news-story/60c904776888575aebab1ef482b3c19c
