Koompahtoo Local Aboriginal Land Council v Sanpine Pty Ltd

HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIAGLEESON CJ,GUMMOW, KIRBY, HEYDON AND CRENNAN JJKOOMPAHTOO LOCAL ABORIGINAL LAND COUNCIL & ANOR  APPELLANTSANDSANPINE PTY LIMITED & ANOR  RESPONDENTSKoompahtoo Local Aboriginal Land Council v Sanpine Pty Limited[2007] HCA 6113 December 2007S221/2007ORDER1.        Appeal allowed with costs.2.Set aside the orders of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales made on 2 November 2006 and, in their place, order that the appeal to that Court be dismissed with costs.On appeal from the Supreme Court of New South WalesRepresentationB A J Coles QC with G A Sirtes for the appellants (instructed by Bartier Perry Solicitors)T S Hale SC with A M Mitchelmore for the first respondent (instructed by Solari Legal)No appearance for the second respondentNotice:  This copy of the Court's Reasons for Judgment is subject to formal revision prior to publication in the Commonwealth Law Reports.CATCHWORDSKoompahtoo Local Aboriginal Land Council v Sanpine Pty Limited Contract – Repudiation – First respondent was held by the trial judge to have grossly departed from the terms of a contract with the first appellant – First appellant purported to accept a repudiation of that contract – Difference between renunciation of a contract, where a party evinces an inability or unwillingness to render substantial performance of a contract, and repudiation, in the form of a breach justifying termination – Classification of contractual terms for the purpose of determining the consequences of a breach – Whether case was one of breach of a condition or sufficiently serious breach of an intermediate term...