Campbell Transport chases Aurizon over unpaid fees
David Campbell Transport is taking Aurizon to court in a bid to recoup about $8 million Glencore says it is owed for shipping at its Murrin Murrin operations.
Forrestfield-based David Campbell Transport Pty Ltd named Australia Western Railroad Pty Ltd, trading as Aurizon, as a defendant in a writ filed with the Supreme Court of Western Australia.
The action focused on contracts relating to Campbell’s three Murrin Murrin Ore open-pit operations, which were subcontracted in May 2024 to provide haulage and haul road maintenance services.
Glencore’s Murrin Murrin operation is a large open-cut nickel-cobalt mine located in the Goldfields, between Leonora and Laverton.
Campbell claimed that under contracts Aurizon was obliged to provide transport plans and pay for and provide fit-for-purpose maintenance and service workshops.
The shipping company claims that neither of these two obligations were fulfilled by Aurizon.
Additionally, Campbell claimed that invoices that they said were due within 16 days of written notice of payment under the contracts were not paid.
In the article, Campbell said Aurizon’s alleged failure to pay invoices, coupled with its alleged failure to provide shipping plans and service availability, showed that the company no longer intended to be bound by the contract.
As a result, Campbell terminated the contract in January.
In February, Campbell sent Aurizon an invoice for $7.5 million, the sum of early termination fees that the company claimed were agreed to in the contract.
The company then requested additional payment of $865,000, which was the demobilization cost associated with the early termination of the contract.
Campbell is seeking approximately $8.3 million from Aurizon, plus interest and costs.
In this case, the company is represented by Bennett’s Thaw Thaw Htin.
This isn’t the first legal battle David Campbell Transport has been involved in in recent months; The company is also currently suing Integra attorney Janette Tavelli and attorney Richard James Price of Francis Burt Chambers.
This case focused on legal advice provided to Campbell by the defendants between 2020 and 2023 regarding the enforceability of an agreement between Campbell and Exxten Pty ltd and Craig Mitchell in relation to the Weird Knob mine in South Australia.
The value of Campbell’s claim was not disclosed in the case, where Campbell is represented by Murcia Pestell Hillard attorney Cheryl Sun.
David Campbell Transport commands a fleet of more than 200 trucks and 600 staff.
The company had warehouses in Port Hedland, Perth, Geraldton, Broome, Escperance, Kalgoorlie, Bunburry and Jerramungup.
An Aurizon spokesperson said: Business News He did not want to comment on the matter.
