IN THE SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA AT MELBOURNE

COMMON LAW DIVISION

BETWEEN
CAROL ANN MATTHEWS
and
SPI ELECTRICITY PTY LTD (ACN 064 651 118) & ORS
(by original proceeding)
AND BETWEEN
SPI ELECTRICITY PTY LTD (ACN 064 651118)
No 4788 of 2009
Plai ntiff
Defendants
Plaintiff by Counterclaim
and
UTILITY SERVICES CORPORATION LIMITED
(ACN 060 674580) & ORS
Defendants by Counterclaim
(by counterclaim)
CERTIFICATE IDENTIFYING EXHIBIT
Date of document: 24 March 20 II
Filed on behalf of: the first defendant
Prepared by:
Freehill s
Level 43 101 Collins Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Solicitor' s Codc: 420
DX: 240 Melbourne
Tel: +61 39288 1234
Fax: +61 39288 1567
Ref: KAA:REO:81720904
Attention: Ken Adams
Email : ken.adams@freehills. com
This is the exhibit marked "KAA:3" now produced and shown to KClU1ct h Alexander Adams at the
time of swearing his affidavit on 24 March 201 1.
Freehills 8165581
#'

i'liITM IElIZABEi1J iJWi'lIM<rl1:;}id
F<96hIIis "KAA 3"
101 Collins Street MvlboU({)<?l :
lui legal P", ctnioner Ifthin ttl; b F h 'II
etween ree I S
and Slidders Lawyers
Freehills
Ms Renishka Naidoo
Managing Partner
Slidders lawyers
renishka@slidders.com.8U
Dear Renishka
20 February 2009
Matter 81523827
8yemail
SP Australia Networks (Distribution) Ltd & SP Australia Networks
(Transmission) Ltd als Leo Keane
Supreme Court of Victoria Proceeding No 4788 of 2009
We act for SP Australia Networks (Finance) Trust. SP Australia Networks (Transmission)
ltd and SP Australia Networks (Distribution) Ltd (together SP AusNet) . Our client is listed
on the Australian Securities Exchange.
On 15 February 2009 the front page of The Sunday Age carried an article titled -Huge fire
class action launched-. Within the body of the articte it was reported that:
Yesterday Slidders Lawyers partner Daniel Oldham confirmed that a class
action had been issued in the Supreme Court of Victoria on Friday against
Singapore-owned electricity company SP AusNet, which is responsible for
maintaining most of the power fines in eastern Victoria.
'It is believed that the claim will be made on the basis of negligent management
of power fines and infrastructure, ' Mr Oldham said:'
During the opening hour of trade on Monday 16 February 2009 our client's share price fell
more than 13%. Several hundred thousand shares were traded during this period.
A search of the records of the Supreme Court of Victoria on Monday morning revealed
that no proceeding against OUf client had been issued on Friday. Nor had any proceeding
been issued by midday on Monday. At 1.02pm on 16 February 2009 Ken Adams of our
office telephoned your office and asked to speak with Mr Oldham. Mr Adams advised that
he represented SP AusNet and wished 10 clarify media reports concerning his client. Mr
Adams was told that:
Mr Oldham is on leave for the entirety of this week; and
Charles Slidders (founding partner of Slidders lawyers) is overseas indefinitely.
An employee named Giordana stated that she would speak to Mr Oldham and agreed to
call Mr Adams back as a matter of urgency.
Mr Adams' urgent message went unanswered.
At 3.06pm Mr Adams again called your firm and asked to speak with any partner. He was
advised that you were the only partner presently in the office and that you were not taking
telephone call s. Mr Adams left a message requesting that his call be returned
immediately.
, Houston, C . and Badle1ard. M . "Huge fi re class actioo launched" The Age p.1.
Doe 1115438.7
101 Collins Streel MelbWrne VIC 3000 Auslratia
GPO Box 12l1A Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia
~ -...... PtrfI ~ ~ ~
Telephone " 61 3 9288 1234 FIK5lmiIe 61 3 9288 1567
www.freetlills.COtn OX 240 Melbourne
C o n ~ oIkcs in ~ Ho cr. ... "" City ..-...-
freehills
Shortly after 4.00pm Mr Adams telephoned Denise Weir, Deputy Registrar - Service
Coordination, Supreme Court of Victoria. Ms Wei r advised Mr Adams that:
(a) earlier that day the Court had been advised by Slidders Lawyers that they woul d
be filing a group proceeding in rel ation to the Victorian bush fi res later thai day;
and
(b) laler in the day the Court was informed that a derk was on his or her way to
Court to file the proceeding.
As at the time of sending this letter some three days later, Mr Adams' two urgent
messages to Slidders l awyers remain unanswered. Further no explanation has been
given as to whether Mr Oldham daims to have been misquoted or whether he has misled
the investing community by falsely slating thai a dass action had been commenced last
week.
We have now obtained a copy of the generall y indorsed writ in Supreme Court of Victoria
Proceeding No 4788 of 2009 (the Proceeding). This proceeding has not yet been served
upon our client. We are aware thai on 24 December 2008 your firm also filed a group
proceeding against various State parties seeking relief in relation to certain bush fires that
occurred in Victoria in early 2003 and that that proceeding has not yet been served upon
the defendants. Please let us know whether. and if so when, your client intends to effect
service of the Proceeding on our cl ient.
More generally it is not clear to us why the Proceeding has been commenced by way of a
generally indorsed writ. A cursory review of the document reveals that it is replele with
errors and incoherent allegations. In view of the deficiencies in the document, it would
appear that the Proceeding was filed prematurely and in considerabl e haste. There is no
obvious rational explanation for your client to have done so. Given the gravity of the
allegations and the public manner in which your firm has raised these matters, we
consider this to be very serious. Should your client wish to pursue the Proceeding we ask
that the deficiencies be remedied prior to service, so that the resources and time of the
Court and our client are not wasted.
We also ask that you preserve all records of communications and all documents relevant
to the publication of the article titled -Huge fire class action launched" which was
publ ished in The Sunday Age on 15 February 2009.
We look forward to your prompt response.
Yours sincerely
Ken Adams
Partner
Freehills
+61 39288 1669
+61418350776
ken.adams@freehitls.com
1115438
. ~
Ruth Overington
Senior Associate
Freehills
+6139288 1946
+61 421 643204
ruth.overington@freehi ll s.com
SP Australia Networ\o;; s (Distribution) ltd & SP Australia NelwOfks
(Transmisskln) lId ats leo Keane
Supreme Court of VICtoria Proceeding No 4788 of 2009
page'
SLIDDERS
27 February 2009
STRICTLY PRN ATE & CONFIDENTIAL
MrKenAdams
Freehills
GPO BOX 128A
MELBOURNE VIC 3001
Dear Mr Adams,
BY EMAIL
kell,adams@freehills.com
Class Action v SP Australia Networks (Distribution) Ltd Trading as SP Ausnet
and SP Australia Networks (Transmission) Ltd Trading as SP Ausnct
Supreme Court Number 4788 of 2009
We refer to our previous correspondence in relation to the above matter, and In
particular, your letter dated 20 February 2009.
We deny the allegations in your letter that suggest that our law finn, and in particular,
Daniel Oldham, engaged in any impropriety in relation to the filing, and media
reporting, of the above matter.
At no stage did Mr Oldham confinn to any journalist that a " ... class action had been
issued ... against SP Ausnet,"
The reference to a class action having been issued was incorrect reportage. Moreover,
the concept of a "class action" has no technical legal status without greater
specification and is short hand or vernacular adopted by the journalist.
That the status of any legal proceedings was at large is confinned by the attribution to
me of the following statement "It is believed that the claim will be made on the basis
afnegligent management o/power lines ... " Such a statement is clearly speculation as
to what might occur.
Fina1iy, we confinn that we have not served the above proceeding on your client as
yet. We advise that we intend to serve your client with the Originating Process in
accordance with the Supreme Court Rules.
If you have any further queries, please contact Jordana Dymond of our office.
Yours faithfully,
iC:-WYERS
Daniel Oldham
Partner
daniel@slidderii.com.au
Jordana Dymond
Lawyer
fordana@slidders.com.au
LEVEl. " 3 1S KING STREET, ME1.80URNE VIC 3000
OX 30871 MEl. BOURNE STOC>,( EXCHANGE VIC I PO BOX 13288 L AW COURTS POST OFFICE, MEl.aOURNE VIC SOlO
T + 61 396400002 i F + 6 I 39640 0090 WWW.Sl.IODERS. COM.AU
A6N 76 105 "90 444 S,-,DDERS '-AW"I'ERS PTY LTD
Freehllls
Mr Daniel Oldham
Partner
Slidders l awyers
daniel@stidders.com.au
Dear Daniel
10 March 2009
Malter 81523827
By emai l
SP Australia Networks (Distribution) Ltd & SP Australia Networks
(Transmission) Ltd ats Leo Keane
Supreme Court of Victoria Proceeding No 4788 of 2009
We refer to your letter dated 27 February 2009.
Your letler is a wholly inadequate response to the concerns raised in our letter dated 20
February 2009. Those concerns fait broadly into two categories:
(a) the appropriateness of your firm's conduct in connection with the publ ication of
an articled tilled "Huge fire class action launched"; 1 and
(b) your client's intentions with respect to the defective generall y indorsed writ filed
in relation to our client.
1 The Sunday Age article
It is incontrovertible that a member of your firm spoke with one or mOte j ournalists from
The Sunday Age. II remains unclear:
(a) for what purpose Mr Oldham sought to pubticise the issue of a proceeding
against our client;
(b) what steps were taken by Mr Oldham to correct the misquote contained in The
Sunday Age article once he became aware of it;
(c) why were Mr Adams' calls to Slidders Lawyers unanswered? As Mr Adams
explained at the time and we reiterated in our letter dated 20 February 2009.
our inquires 'Here motivated by a desire to ensure the shareholders of our client
were not misled. It is unclear why your firm considered it appropriate to inform
the Supreme Court Registry of the intention to file a proceeding on 16 February
2009. but refused to afford Mr Adams the same courtesy; and
(d) why the proceeding was filed outside the standard opening hours of the
Supreme Court Registry? If Mr Oldham did not make the statement alleged to
the j ournalist why was there an apparent urgency to commence the
proceeding?
We ask that you provide an explanation in relation to each of the queries outlined above.
In your leiter you state that "the concept of a 'class action' has no technical legal status
without greater speCification and is short hand or vernacular adopted by the journalist."
Houston, C., and Bachelard, M., "Huge fire class action launched" The Sunday Age 1'.1.
Doo; 1208579,2
101 CoIIin$ SIr!!!!1 Melbourne VIC 3000 AuSlraf.a
GPO Sox 12" Melbourne VIC 3001 Australia
Sydney -.... ~ ~ ~
Telephone . 61 39288 1234 FiIC5imlle .61 J 9288 1567
www.freehills.com DX 240 Melboume
CcwrH:l<lndenl oI'kes in Hanoi HO 0,; UiM ~ J.bruI
FreehiUs
This is a curious statement for the fonowing reasons:
the subject fine of your letter is described as:
' Class Action v SP Australia Networks (Distribution) Ltd Trading as SP Ausnet
(sic) and SP Australia Networks (Transmission) Ud Trading as SP Ausnet (sic)
Supreme Court Number 4788 of 2009" (emphasis added); and
under the heading "Hoi topics' on the website of Slidders Lawyers, is an article
titled ' Victorian Bushfire Class Action 2009", The article explains that Slidders
Lawyers confJfms that a Class Action has been issued against SP AusNet in
relation to the Kilmore East and Beechworth bushfires of February 2009. '
In each instance the phrase "class action" is capitalised. This suggests that your firm
considers the phrase to be descriptive of a particular type of legal proceeding. This is at
odds with the statement advanced in your letter dated 27 February 2009.
Further, in view of the frequency wi th which your firm and the writer of your letter dated
27 February 2009 use the label "class action" , are you seriously suggesting that the use
of it, rather than "group proceeding" is evidence that there was no discussion or
discussions between Mr Oldham and the journalists from The Sunday Age?
As outl ined in our letter dated 20 February 2009 we ask that you preserve all records of
communications and aU documents relevant to the publication of the article titled "Huge
fire class action launched" in The Sunday Age on 15 February 2009. For the avoidance of
doubt, without limitation, we require you to preserve all :
file notes of any discussion between any member or employee of Sli dders
lawyers and any journal ist during the period from 7 to 17 February 2009
(inclusive) (the Relevant Period);
documents which refer or relate to any such communications;
correspondence between any member or employee of Slidders lawyers and
any journalist during the Relevant Period;
all relevant text messages; and
alilandline and mobile telephone records of Daniel Oldham for Ihe Relevanl
Period.
Please confirm that these records have been preserved.
2 Generally indorsed writ
In our letter we asked that you explain:
(a) whether your client intends to effect service on our cl ient, of the generally
indorsed writ filed in Supreme Court of Victoria Proceedi ng No 4788 of 2009
(the Proceeding);
(b) when your client intends to effect service; and
(c) whether your client intends 10 remedy the errors present in the generall y
indorsed writ filed in the Proceeding, prior to service.
Your response is confused and does not respond to these simple inquiries.
Our client is listed on the Australi an Securities Exchange. In these circumstances il is
incumbent on your cl ient to ensure that the market is not confused about the nature of the
a11egations he intends to level at our client. It is no answer to this to assert thai your fi rm
"intend to serve [our] client with the Originating Process in accordance with the Supreme
Court Rules."
Far from clarifying the position this statement merely adds to the confusion. It suggests
that it is the intention of your firm which is the determinate of the timing of service, not
that of your client.
1208519
SP Australia Networks (Disbi Dution) Lid & SP Australia Networks
(TransmissiOll) Ltd als Leo Keane
Supreme CoUf1 01 VICtoria Proceeding No 4788 of 2009
Freehills
In the circumstances we reiterate our request for answers to the questions outl ined
above. We also invite you to explain why your firm considers it appropriate for it to have
an active role in determining when service will be effected on our client.
We look forward to your prompt response.
Yours sincerel y
Ken Adams
Partner
Freehills
+61 39288 1669
+61418350776
ken.adams@freehills.com
Ruth Overington
Senior Associate
Freehills
+61 39288 1946
+61 421 643204
ruth,ovelingtoo@frcehills.com
Copy to: Ms Jordana Dymond
Slidders Lawyers
1208579
SP Australia Networks (Distribution) LId & SP Australia Networks
(Transmission) ltd ats Leo Keane
Supreme Court of Victoria Proceeding No 4788 of 2009 page 3
SLIDDERS
9 April 2009
STRICTLY PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL
MrKenAdams
Freehills
GPO BOX 128A
MELBOURNE VIC 3001
Dear Mr Adams,
BY EMAIL
kcn.adams@frcehills.com
Class Action v SP Australia Networks (Distribution) Ltd Trading as SP Ausnct
and SP Australia Networks (Transmission) Ltd Trading as SP Ausnct
Supreme Court Number 4788 of 2009
We refer to our previous correspondence in relation to the above matter, and in
particular, your letter dated 10 March 2009 ("Your Letter").
In relation to your points under number 1, we reiterate the contents of our letter dated
27 February 2009 ("Our Letter") and maintain that the summary of our interaction
with the Sunday Age was correctly set out in Our Letter.
With respect to your discussion under point 2, we maintain that the content of OUf
Letter was an accurate statement of the state of this legal proceeding.
We confinn that service will be effected in accordance with our client's instructions
and it is anticipated that we will serve the Originating Process next \yeek.
Please advise if you have instructions to accept service by 12.00 noon on Tuesday 14
April 2009.
If you have any further queries, please contact Jordana Dymond of our office.
Yours faithfully,
SLI ERS LAWYERS
Daniel Oldham
Partner
daniel@slidders,com.au
Jordana Dymond
Lawyer
jordana@slidders.com.au
L EVEL I , 318 KING STREET. MELBOURNE V IC .3000
OX 3087 1 MELBOURNE S TOCK EI<<:;HAN GE VI C i PO BOI< 13288 LAW COURTS POST OFFICE, MELBOURNE VIC 80 10
T + 61 .3 964 0 0002 ) F' + 61 .3 9640 0090 ) WWW. SLIDOERS.COM. AlJ
ABN 78105490444 SLIDOERS L",WYERS PTY LTD
Freehills
Mr Daniel Oldham
Partner
Sl idders l awyers
daniel@slidders.com.au
Dear Daniel
14 April 2009
Matter 81523827
By email
SP Australia Networks (Distri bution) ltd & SP Australia Networks
(Transmission) ltd ats Leo Keane
Supreme Court of Victoria Proceeding No 4788 of 2009
We refer to your leiter dated 9 April 2009.
We have instructions 10 accept service of the originating process in Supreme Court of
Victoria Proceeding No 4788 of 2009.
Yours si ncerely
Ruth Overington
Senior Associate
Freehills
+61 39288 1946
+61 421 643204
ruth.overington@freehills.com
Doc 15804117.2
101 Streel Melbourne VIC 3000 Australia
GPO 60>; 12eA Melbourne ViC 3001 Australia
S)'<Iney IAe!tooo.rnc PwIh
.613 92881234 Faeslmile .61 3 9288 1567
_ .I,eel>fls.COffi OX 240 MelbOume
COIfes"""","", ""'" In"->oi Ho ChI .... M Oty