The Federal Court of Australia in Yeo, in the matter of Ready Kit Cabinets Pty Ltd (in liq) v Deputy Commissioner of Taxation [2020] FCA 632 has examined the circumstances in which a payment made by a company subject to a deed of company arrangement may be challenged as an unfair preference.

The principal question for Middleton J was whether payments required to be made by a deed of company arrangement were therefore made “under the authority of” the administrators, within the meaning of s 588FE(2B) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).

It is said that Sisyphus, the ancient king of Ephyra, is destined for eternity to roll a boulder uphill, only to watch it roll down again. Perhaps Sisyphus should have been a liquidator. One could certainly forgive the liquidator of Aberdeen All Farm Pty Ltd (In Liq) (Aberdeen) for thinking so.

After taking appointment in February 2018, Aberdeen has been embroiled in Supreme Court litigation, by which certain parcels of land were claimed to have been held on trust for Barry McWhinney as a result of an alleged fraud.