Hellyer Metals liquidator removed by Federal Court over failure to probe asset transfer

Justice McElwaine ordered Mr Bailey's immediate removal in a judgment cited as [2026] FCA 1676, The Examiner reported on 10 November. Goshawk Mining and other creditors had applied to replace him, arguing that he lacked independence from the people who had run the company. The court's published catchwords show it accepted that Goshawk, whose damages claim has not been proved, had standing to apply, and that the case turned on whether he could be seen to act impartially.

On 5 November 2025 Hellyer Metals handed ownership of the companies that operate the mine to a new group called Celestial, weeks before the Supreme Court of Tasmania froze its assets. The judge said the new owner was run by people linked to the former directors and allegedly paid nothing, and he called the transfer "highly questionable", according to The Examiner. Members later voted to wind the company up, and Mr Bailey took office on 22 January 2026, ASIC records show.

The court found Mr Bailey charged only 30 hours of investigation work in several months, never asked for the company's books, and hired a lawyer who had earlier worked for the directors. He also gave the former directors a draft of his investigation report to comment on. In cross-examination he accepted that he had put his own interests ahead of the creditors', and the judge said that admission ended any confidence in his impartiality. The catchwords add that he had been appointed by the people responsible for transferring the company's assets.

Goshawk is pursuing a claim of A$36.4 million against Hellyer Metals, lodged in late 2023, over a failed A$25 million deal involving the Mount Cameron alluvial tin mine. Mr Johnston now runs the liquidation and can look at the transfer again. No statement from him and no date for a creditors' meeting had been published.