NT Property developer Halikos takes its case against Inpex to the Court of Appeal

DARWIN property developer and hospitality giant Halikos has fired another salvo in it’s legal war with Inpex, with the local firm filing an appeal of the protracted Supreme Court case it lost in February

Darwin Inpex General Manager Sean Kildare, departs the Darwin Supreme Court.

DARWIN property developer and hospitality giant Halikos has fired another salvo in it’s legal war with Inpex, with the local firm filing an appeal of the protracted Supreme Court case it lost in February.

The appeal, filed on Thursday, is sharply critical of Justice Judith Kelly’s conclusions and handling of the case.

Halikos unsuccessfully sought tens-of-millions in damages from the Japanese gas giant after building the H105 Hotel on Mitchell St following a purported handshake agreement Inpex would house workers there for years.

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The case was heard mid 2017 and Justice Kelly delivered judgment for Inpex in August 2018, not publishing reasons for her decision until February 2019.

Among the grounds of appeal detailed in court records is that Justice Kelly’s 21-month delay in giving reasons made the judgment “unsafe”.

Another related ground of appeal deals with Justice Kelly’s unusual approach of delivering a delivering judgment for Inpex while still finalising reasons.

Halikos Hospitality executive general manager Geoff Weeks.

“Having committed herself to judgment without mature reasons, the trial judge erred by binding herself to prepare reasons that supported that judgment, irrespective of any further consideration of the evidence and issues,” the ground of appeal states.

The case turned largely on opposing accounts of a series of sparsely documented meetings between top management from the two companies.

Justice Kelly’s rejection of Halikos’s case was largely a result of her preference for the accounts given by top Inpex managers.

Halikos unsuccessfully attempted to bolster its case with the evidence of former chief minister Adam Giles, who was at a hobnob between the companies’ senior managers at Hanuman Restaurant in 2014.

Justice Kelly flatly rejected the central points of Mr Giles’s evidence.

Former NT Chief Minister Adam Giles leaves the Darwin Supreme Court after giving evidence for Halikos.

Court documents show Halikos will argue on appeal that Justice Kelly “failed to have any, or sufficient, regard to” the consistent evidence given about the Hanuman dinner by Mr Giles, Mr Giles’s then-chief of staff Ron Kelly, Halikos general manager Shane Dignan and Halikos Hospitality general manager Geoff Weeks.

Halikos’s position is that it would not have bulldozed the profitable Top End Hotel and terminated profitable lease agreements to build H105 without an agreement underwriting the new hotel’s profitability.

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In a brief statement to the NT News, Mr Dignan said Justice Kelly’s decision at trial tarnished the company’s good name.

“As the Managing Director of Halikos, with almost 30 years in this company, this decision not only calls into question my own integrity but tarnishes the reputation of our company and our employees, who are honest and hardworking Territorians,” Mr Dignan said.

Mr Dignan said he and company founder John Halikos were “greatly disappointed” with Justice Kelly’s findings at trial.

“We have never had to initiate legal proceedings before — it’s not the Territory way of doing business,” Mr Dignan said.

“But in this case, we had no choice but to go to court and now see no other avenue than to Appeal the Court’s decision.”

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Mr Dignan insisted Halikos had a “binding agreement” with Inpex before it turned over the first sod at 105 Mitchell St.

Mr Dignan declined to comment on the specific details of the case but said Halikos was committed to doing business in “in a professional manner”.

“I … hope that the broader community will better understand our situation and to reaffirm the Halikos Group’s commitment to best practice in its development, construction and hospitality business.”

Should Halikos’s appeal fail, the company will be left in a deep financial hole made worse by a likely order to cover the fees racked up by Inpex’s mammoth legal team.

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