Fishers ordered to pay Gladstone Ports legal fees until end of trial

A seven-year-long lawsuit which involves more than 150 businessmen from Qld and NSW suing Gladstone Ports Corporation is back on track after a three month delay.

Gladstone Fish Market owner Ted Whittingham in the cream jacket and pants), Urangan Fisheries owner Nick Schulz with Law Essentials principle Chris Thompson and Clyde and Co partner Maurice Thompson with plaintiffs in the class action against Gladstone Ports Corporation.

A seven-year-long lawsuit involving more than 150 businessmen from Queensland and NSW suing government-owned entity Gladstone Ports Corporation is back on track after a three month delay because the plaintiff’s lawyers all quit the same international law firm.

Now a trial is on the horizon after a major decision was handed down last week.

More than 150 commercial fishers and associated business people – from Bowen to Sydney, including Keppel Bay, Stanage Bay and Gladstone region operators – are suing GPC for between $100m and $150m, with the initial claim lodged in July 2017 amended multiple times.

They claim works carried out by the ­corporation in the ­Gladstone Harbour negatively ­impacted the water quality, fish health and fish numbers, impacting industry members’ businesses.

The work, including dredging and building of a bund wall, were carried out in about 2010.

The fishers were represented by international law firm Clyde and Co, which has offices in multiple cities in Australia.

The lawyers at that firm working the case all left late last year and in April, the firm officially withdrew from the records as representing the fishers.

The team that left Clyde and Co in December last year was led by Melbourne-based Maurice Thompson and now works for Holman Fenwick Willan.

Hervey Bay-based lawyer, Chris Thompson from Law Essentials, who was the lawyer for the first complainant Murphy Operator Pty Ltd before it became a class action case, did appear on behalf of his clients during the April proceedings.

Last week, the parties returned to the Supreme Court in Rockhampton with Holman Fenwick Willan now representing the fishers.

The parties last week argued over the last tranche of costs for this case, a mortgage type security covering a defendant’s legal costs in civil proceedings.

Justice Graeme Crow ordered in favour of GPC of $6.14m to cover costs until the end of trial.

During this discussion, Douglas Savage KC, for GPC, said it was hoped the matter would go to trial in the first half of 2025.

The court had previously heard the trial could take more than 12 weeks.