By Stephen Brook and Kishor Napier-Raman
High-end real estate buyer’s agent David Morrell is well known for taking his wealthy and prestigious clients on a spin around the Toorak mansions of St Georges and Lansell roads in his white Porsche, and for his Top End Tales newsletter, chronicling the peaks and valleys of the mansion market.
Buyer’s agent David Morrell.
From which we quote: “A chill has descended. At the Top End, the market’s caught in moody stand-offs — no one quite sure whether to pull the trigger or pull the doona over their heads.
“Buyers are skittish, sellers are split between hopeful and haunted, and agents are eyeing their San Tropez floaties with more than usual caution.”
Fun, no?
But now the director of buyer’s agency Morrell and Koren is in the Federal Court – and it has nothing to do with realtors.
Rather, the issue at hand is a $1.03 million Beneteau First 44 performance sailing yacht, which Morrell bought off the plan in September 2022.
The First 44 is described in sales brochures as a vessel that “draws to the noblest expression of the term racer/cruiser”.
But alas, when it arrived in December 2023, it was not the boat that Morrell was expecting.
His Federal Court filing lists 16 different defects, including: “the vessel is unable to reach and maintain speeds of, on wind, 8 knots tick and underneath, 15 knots downwind”; “the bow of the vessel sits above rather than below the waterline”; “the stern of the vessel sits below rather than above the waterline”; “the halyards and lines of the vessel are too small for the cleats”; “the ballast of the vessel is in a cupboard”; “the vessel’s electronics … can only be utilised through the screen fitted on the companionway of the vessel, which, due to the location, cannot be used by the helmsmen”; “the vessel’s fridge door was held together by small screws and has fallen off”; and “the vessel’s internal ceiling has fallen in”.
Morrell has retained SBA Law and is taking Sundance Maritime Pty Ltd to court seeking an order for loss and damages.
“I bought myself this brand-new present,” Morrell told CBD. “I spent a fortune … I ended up with a Leyland P76. A lemon. I am wanting my money back and taking on the dealer.”
Morrell has not been on the boat since October – it is now berthed in a marina pen in Brighton. Incidentally, the boat was named Admiral, in honour of former St Kilda president Andrew Plympton, who was commonly known in Australian sailing circles as the Admiral. He passed away last year.
Unusually, we thought for someone who makes a living from Melbourne’s high-end property market, this is Morell’s first foray into litigation.
He alleges he has suffered loss and damage and is seeking the cost of the boat and spending $140,700 on sails from Sundance Marine, agents for France’s SPBI Beneteau.
Law firm Kennedy’s has lodged a notice that it will be appearing on behalf of Sundance, however, it is yet to file a defence.
“Sundance has had a long and successful association with Mr Morell. He has purchased four vessels (including three Beneteaus) through Sundance and presently retains three,” said a spokesman for Sundance.
He added the firm was proud of its reputation and disappointed about the legal action and its allegations, which he said were “denied and misinformed”.
“Unless Mr Morell is prepared to sit down with Sundance and resolve his issues through discussion, the legal proceeding will be vigorously defended by Sundance.”
Stay tuned folks.
The content factory erupts
Stand by for a veritable Krakatoa of mushroom trial content – anything and everything from podcasts/books/essays/documentaries/interviews and ABC TV dramas called Toxic. And don’t get us started on the TikToks.
Stan, which is, like this masthead, owned by Nine Entertainment, has a documentary series on the way by the name Death Cap, under its Revealed banner. The series – which “explores how one tragic lunch has the means to shatter a small-town community” – has funding from Screen Australia, is directed by Gill Marsden and features The Age’s Marta Pascual Juanola and John Silvester.
An early candidate for OG podcast is surely going to be Helen Garner and Sarah Krasnostein’s proposed mushroom trial podcast.
CBD hears that the pair have been all about the chat on the long drives from Melbourne to the Supreme Court location in Morwell, recording their dialogue two-handers for a planned podcast series, we imagine fuelled by $1 Foodary coffees and Mentos Chewy Fruit.
We asked publisher Schwartz Media for some more details but did not hear back before deadline.
Garner’s true-crime books include Joe Cinque’s Consolation and This House of Grief but as far as we can tell, her own podcast would break new ground for her.
Krasnostein is famous for her true-crime book, The Trauma Cleaner, and her latest piece for The Monthly was a long read on Preston Brass Band.
The podcast project is unconfirmed, and the pair had better get their skates on, if other announcements are anything to go by.
On Monday The Age live blog reported the first guilty verdict at 2.18pm.
And at 3.28pm, CBD’s inbox went ping with the breathless news, “Allen & Unwin to publish The Mushroom Murders”, boasting about how the publisher had acquired the world rights to the book from Greg Haddrick, the “Logie Award-winning screenwriter and film and television producer (whose) credits include the TV series, Underbelly, Janet King”.
The book will be published on November 11.
A friend indeed
Last month, an investigation by this masthead revealed former rugby league star Jonathan Thurston and his colourful long-time manager, Sam Ayoub, were embroiled in a bitter legal battle with a former employee.
Player manager Sam Ayoub, Samantha Johnson and former Australian rugby league representative Johnathan Thurston (right).Credit: Artwork: Matt Davidson
Samantha Johnson, an ex-general manager of the Johnathan Thurston Academy, launched proceedings with the Queensland Human Rights Commission, accusing Ayoub of serious sexual misconduct, and Thurston of ignoring the behaviour.
The pair strenuously deny the allegations, and launched proceedings in the Queensland Supreme Court to head off Johnson’s claim. But the messy legal fight has rocked the JT Academy, the organisation helmed by Thurston which provides education services to disadvantaged youth.
The dispute was set to head before the courts last month, but the parties have since agreed to try to mediate – privately.
“The parties have agreed to participate in a confidential conciliation in the Queensland Human Rights Commission to see whether it is possible for all issues between them to be resolved amicably,” a spokesperson for the JT Academy told CBD.
Meanwhile, the JT Academy has quietly hired lobbyists, with a firm called Red Rocket listing it as a client on the federal lobbying register. The company has no real online paper trail, but appears linked to Ryan Wellington, a one-time consigliere to lewd Sydney shock jock Kyle Sandilands. Wellington and Red Rocket also represent JT’s old club, the North Queensland Cowboys.
The JT Academy didn’t comment on Red Rocket’s lobbying. But CBD understands the academy works closely with government on service delivery, receiving $10 million in federal funding in the past seven years.
That cash had dried up even before details of Johnson’s lawsuit, and Ayoub’s alleged misconduct became public. High time to call in a friend to help work the corridors of power.
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