Federal Court of Australia

Blue Dragon Interior Pty Ltd v Huang (No 2) [2026] FCA 1588

ORDERS

THE COURT ORDERS THAT:

Discovery

1.    In relation to discovery, the time for each of the parties to give discovery, by means of serving on all parties a list of documents in accordance with rule 20.17 of the Federal Court Rules 2017, is extended to 4 November 2026.

Evidence

2.    By 18 December 2026, the applicant is to file and serve any lay evidence and any expert evidence it seeks to rely on in support of its Originating Application, in affidavit form or in the form of an expert report.

3.    By 19 February 2027:

(a)    each of the respondents is to file and serve any lay evidence and any expert evidence they seek to rely on in opposition to the Originating Application, in affidavit form or in the form of an expert report; and

(b)    in the case of the first respondent/cross-claimant, also any lay evidence and any expert evidence he seeks to rely on in support of his Notice of Cross-claim, in affidavit form or in the form of an expert report.

4.    By 19 March 2027:

(a)    the applicant/cross-respondents are to file and serve any lay evidence and any expert evidence in reply to evidence served in accordance with Order 3(a), and any lay evidence and/or expert evidence in opposition to the Notice of Cross-claim, in affidavit form or in the form of expert reports; and

(b)    the respondents are to file and serve any lay evidence and any expert evidence in reply to evidence of the other respondent served in accordance with Order 3(a), in affidavit form or in the form of expert reports.

5.    By 9 April 2027, the cross-claimant is to file and serve any lay evidence and any expert evidence in reply to any evidence filed in opposition to the Notice of Cross-claim in accordance with order 4(a) above, in affidavit form or in the form of expert reports.

Mediation, and further case management hearing

6.    The matter is listed for further case management hearing, for the purposes of setting hearing dates and making associated orders dealing with matters such as outlines of submissions, objections to evidence and Court books, at 9.30 am on 23 April 2027.

7.    Pursuant to s.53A of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1975, the matter be referred to a Registrar for mediation on a date to be fixed by the Registrar, with the mediation to occur between 26 March 2027 and 16 April 2027.

8.    The parties have liberty to apply to the Associate to his Honour Justice Jackman on three business days’ notice.

Redactions

9.    The documents discovered by each party may contain redactions on the basis of legal professional privilege or on the basis of irrelevance, subject to the redaction of irrelevant material not detracting from a proper understanding of the meaning and significance of the relevant parts of the document.

Note:    Entry of orders is dealt with in Rule 39.32 of the Federal Court Rules 2011.

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

Delivered ex tempore

JACKMAN J:

1    The first respondent takes issue with the manner in which the applicant has given discovery of its bank statements, whereby the applicant has redacted entries in the bank statements on the ground that the redacted material falls outside the scope of the relevant category for discovery. The first respondent says that it received no prior notice of, and has not consented to, those redactions. The first respondent seeks to have the Court note that the documents discovered by each party shall not contain any redactions, other than redactions on the basis of legal professional privilege, in the absence of agreement by the other parties to such redactions.

2    The relevant category of documents as ordered on 2 September 2026 is for bank statements “which show payments received by the company in respect of any Project, and/or payments made by the company for materials, labour or other expenses incurred in respect of any Project”. That category is not clear as to whether it permits the redaction of entries in bank statements. However, the category was ordered on the basis that it identifies those aspects of the bank statements which are relevant for the purposes of discovery.

3    The first respondent relies on the reasoning of Leeming JA (with whom Meagher and Payne JJA agreed) in Lewis v Lewis [2021] NSWCA 168; (2021) 105 NSWLR 487 at [95]–[96]. That passage adopted the principles that:

(a)    if masking on the ground of alleged irrelevance would detract from a proper understanding of the meaning and significance of the admittedly relevant parts of the document, then such masking is not justified;

(b)    unless there is some relevant qualification in the order for discovery, the order requires that the whole document be produced unless there is an agreement to the contrary by the party to which discovery is being made or unless relief from the requirement is obtained from the Court; and

(c)    redacting part of a relevant document because that part discloses a privileged confidential communication is entirely legitimate, and is distinct from redacting part of a relevant document because the redacted part is said to be irrelevant.

4    I respectfully agree with that reasoning. In relation to bank statements, I do not understand how the redaction of particular entries could detract from a proper understanding of the meaning and significance of the unredacted entries. Bank statements record individual transactions as separate line items. Accordingly, I do not perceive any difficulty of substance in relation to the applicant having redacted entries which fall outside the indication in the relevant category for discovery as to what is relevant. The only difficulty is the formal one that the order of the Court on 2 September 2026 was unclear in this respect.

5    Accordingly, I will clarify the position by making an order to the following effect:

The documents discovered by each party may contain redactions on the basis of legal professional privilege or on the basis of irrelevance, subject to the redaction of irrelevant material not detracting from a proper understanding of the meaning and significance of the relevant parts of the document.

Associate:

Dated:    23 October 2026