Anthony Hoare and Mathew Hoare square off in Supreme Court over Geelong quarry agreement

The “warring” siblings of a family business empire have gone head-to-head in a legal battle over the future of a major Geelong quarry and a well-known mining service.

The sibling dispute began shortly after the death of their father, Peter Hoare (pictured), in May 2011. Picture: Supplied.

A decade-long legal dispute over their father’s will has spilt over to the agreement between two of Geelong’s major quarry services.

Following the death of their father Peter Hoare in May 2011, the relationship between siblings Anthony Peter Hoare, Matthew Charles Hoare and Kim McDonald “soured” into a number of legal battles concerning the future of Geelong’s quarrying empire.

One of the proceedings before the Supreme Court concerns the informal agreement between Stonehaven’s Geelong Quarries and South Geelong’s Hoare Bros, which Anthony Hoare has operated.

As part of their roles as GQ directors, Mathew Hoare and Ms McDonald called a meeting to terminate this quarrying agreement.

However, Anthony Hoare claimed Mathew Hoare and Ms McDonald were not “validly appointed” to GQ and their behaviour to terminate the informal agreement “constitutes oppressive conduct”.

In the background are two separate proceedings that concern the distribution of assets and control of family companies.

Anthony Hoare is seeking to consolidate all matters into one hearing.

In September 2022, Justice Catherine Button made an order restraining Mathew Hoare and Ms McDonald from holding any future meetings until all proceedings are dealt with or a court order is made.

Hoare Bros is a mining service that falls under the Hoare family empire. Picture: Hoare Bros.

Justice Button also made an order restricting the two siblings from terminating another quarry agreement between GQ and Galaxie Investments, another limb of the quarrying family empire.

In the judgement, Justice Button said despite there being no formal agreement between Hoare Bros and GQ, it has held up for over a decade and could continue “for a few months (or even years)”.

While Justice Button accepted the “deterioration” in the relationship between the “warring siblings” made the relationship between GQ and Hoare Bros “difficult”, she said there was no evidence that proved there was an “urgent need to terminate the agreement”.

Earlier this month, Mathew Hoare sought leave to appeal Justice Button’s decision but this was denied by the Court of Appeal.

Court of Appeal judges David Beach, Terence Forrest and Michal Sifris noted the meeting to terminate was “given shortly after Anthony indicated he was proposing to (consolidate)”.

“An injunction for a few months … in circumstances where Mathew and Kim are suddenly concerned with good governance in relation to a contract that has been on foot for over a decade, does not come anywhere near constituting an injustice, let alone a serious injustice.

“Particularly given the opportunistic circumstances relating to the timing and service of the notice (of consolidation),” the judges found.

The relationship between the three soured in part because of the distribution of assets after Peter Hoare’s death.

Originally published as Anthony Hoare and Mathew Hoare square off in Supreme Court over Geelong quarry agreement