Facts
- The Commonwealth and the McRaes entered into a contract for a shipwreck (via tender)
- It turned out the shipwreck had never existed
- McRae sued
Held
- Dixon & Fullgar JJ: Mistake depends on the construction of the contract. Can you imply a term, e.g. “the ship exists”
- Whether this will be implied when both parties were mistaken depends on if one party has specific expertise. If they do, more likely to convey a term
- If they don’t, the Courts will be reluctant as the other party could just as easily have checked
- The courts implied that there was a term in the contract that the ship existed.
- Therefore the Clth owed damages for breach of contract
-- Download McRae v Commonwealth Disposals Commission (1951) 84 CLR 377 as PDF --

