Arabic version: قاضٍ اتحادي يعزل مصفّي شركة هيلير ميتالز

According to ABC News, federal court Justice Shaun McElwaine removed Liam Bailey as liquidator of Hellyer Metals, a company that part-owned a north-west Tasmanian gold mine. The judge appointed Adam Johnston to replace him and ordered Mr Bailey to provide all relevant records.

Justice McElwaine said questions about Mr Bailey’s impartiality were “very real” and said his lack of action since being appointed in January meant a new liquidator with a “laser-like focus” was needed. Hellyer Metals entered voluntary administration in January 2026, with Mr Bailey appointed liquidator on January 22.

The case concerns a transaction from Hellyer Metals to associated company Celestial Group, made around the time the Tasmanian government ordered the Hellyer Gold Mine to temporarily shut over unpaid debts. Goshawk Mining later obtained a Supreme Court order freezing $36.4 million of assets in Hellyer’s associated companies. Goshawk Mining and Saxby Capital are pursuing Hellyer Metals for damages totalling more than $36 million over a failed business deal.

The judge described the transaction as prima facie “highly questionable”, citing its timing, the people behind it and the apparent stripping of assets from Hellyer Metals for no valuable consideration. He found Mr Bailey had not properly investigated the company or the transaction despite access to extensive records and financial resources.

Justice McElwaine also criticised Mr Bailey for selecting a lawyer known to Hellyer Metals and for providing a draft statutory liquidation report to the company’s directors, whom the judge described as intimately involved in the transaction. Although removal of a liquidator is not a power lightly exercised, the judge said it was “justified, indeed required” to support a thorough and prompt investigation.