Mallonland Pty Ltd v Advanta Seeds Pty Ltd

Negligence – Duty of care – Where the appellants ("the growers") purchased contaminated grain sorghum seed from a distributor authorised by the respondent ("the producer") – Where the growers consequently suffered pure economic loss in the form of reduced income and increased expenditure – Whether the producer owed the growers a duty to take reasonable care in its production process of the seed to avoid the risk that the growers would sustain pure economic loss by reason of a hidden defect in the seed – Whether the producer had assumed a responsibility towards the growers to take reasonable care to avoid causing them pure economic loss – Whether the salient features of the relationship between the producer and the growers established a duty of care to avoid causing pure economic loss.

Words and phrases – "assumption of responsibility", "control", "disclaimer of responsibility", "duty of care", "indeterminacy", "intention", "knowledge", "proximity", "pure economic loss", "reasonable foreseeability", "salient features", "vulnerability".