Great Southern court bid
The Supreme Court of Victoria was told on Thursday that electronic documents found as the trial had almost concluded could now shed further light on the failure of the $1.8 billion managed investment scheme in 2008.
Garry Bigmore, QC, for the investors, said the evidence showed the extent to which investors had been "misinformed" about productivity problems in some published product disclosure statements.
"With the arrival of the new evidence, the extremely poor performance of Great Southern's 1994 to 1996 timber schemes was fully exposed," he said.
But the counsel for the defence, Andrew McClelland, blasted the "artificial way" the plaintiffs had tried to link the collapse of Great Southern to "minutiae" about forestry practices, when it was really linked to funding problems caused by the global financial crisis.
The trial, before Justice Croft, continues on Tuesday.
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Investors who were wiped out when Great Southern collapsed in 2008 have asked the Supreme Court of Victoria to admit new electronic evidence. They say the documents could show management concealed damning information about the health of its forestry plantations and that investors were misinformed in some product disclosure statements.
The bid to introduce the new electronic documents was brought by investors in the failed Great Southern managed investment scheme. Their counsel, Garry Bigmore QC, told the court the evidence exposes poor performance in certain timber schemes and alleged misinformation in disclosure documents.
According to the investors' submissions, the newly found electronic documents could shed light on the health of Great Southern's forestry plantations and show the extent to which productivity problems in the 1994–1996 timber schemes were concealed from investors.
Investors' counsel argued the evidence shows some published product disclosure statements misinformed investors about productivity problems in certain forestry schemes, meaning key information about scheme performance may not have been fully disclosed.
The defence, represented by Andrew McClelland, argued the plaintiffs are artificially linking the collapse to detailed forestry practice ‘minutiae’. He says the collapse was really linked to broader funding problems caused by the global financial crisis, not solely operational forestry issues.
Great Southern operated a managed investment scheme valued at about $1.8 billion, which failed during the global financial turmoil and collapsed in 2008, leaving many investors financially wiped out.
Counsel for the investors told the court that the extremely poor performance was particularly evident in Great Southern's timber schemes from 1994 to 1996, which the new evidence is said to fully expose.
The trial is being heard in the Supreme Court of Victoria before Justice Croft. The matter was ongoing at the time of the report, with the hearing set to continue on the following Tuesday as the court considers the bid to admit the new electronic evidence.
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