Cordato Partner, Business Property & Tourism Lawyers

14/10/2026

Koalas don’t drink b**r and other reasons why it’s hard to set up a microbrewery in the bush
A look at how Buckettys Brewery was approved in the Hunter Valley.
See my article

Microbreweries are flourishing across regional New South Wales, driven by local tourism and demand for artisanal products. But approvals are not easy…

28/09/2026

Family trusts cannot last forever

The first family trusts lasted for a lifetime plus 21 years. Fifty years ago, they lasted for 80 years. Now, the trend is to make family trusts last for 125 years. To find out more, read my latest article

Trusts are legal arrangements used to protect assets from creditor claims, from dissipation by beneficiaries, as tax shelters, to maintain investment…

14/09/2026

Why don’t they serve sausage sandwiches at cellar door w**e tastings?
Cellar doors are not allowed to sell food under planning restrictions which are well past their use-by date. They can’t sell b**r if they have a micro-brewery. All they can sell is bottles of w**e. See my latest article on how planning restrictions have ring fenced agritourism.
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=dd16aea9-febc-4e46-aa74-534aabfc42e9

12/08/2026

My takeouts from this morning's AFR article are: (1) this downturn should last 13 months; and (2) resi rents will rise strongly and it's possible the negative gearing ban will be reversed for this reason, just like it was in 1987. https://https://lnkd.in/gCgDgAxU

27/07/2026

Q How long should a family trust last?
A As long as legally possible?
Q What’s needed?
A See my latest article

For 300 years, the rule for how long a trust can continue before it must vest was:the trust must vest within a life or lives in being and twenty-one…

15/07/2026

Is the tour price real?
If the price for a tour, cruise or resort is advertised as - ‘From $...’ or ‘Save Up To $...’, is it the real price, or just the bait to attract clicks on a website to book a more expensive tour, cruise or resort?
In legal terms, is it a misleading representation which is illegal under the Australian Consumer Law?
See my latest article

Coles offered customers price discounts on a range of commonly purchased products under the ‘Down Down’ promotions. Coles used ‘Was/Now’ pricing…

13/07/2026

Grill’d Tree Day Tuesday was a mirage

Grill’d promised to pay $1 to planting a tree for every burger sold on a Tuesday. But over 3 years, only 4 in every 100 burgers qualified. It was a misleading environmental claim that breached the Australian Consumer Law. See my latest article.

The ACCC is prosecuting Grill’d because only 4 out of every 100 burgers it sold qualified for the donation of $1 per burger promised for tree…

09/06/2026

This decision rings alarm bells for Strata Corporations which fail to deal promptly with water ingress into an owner’s property.

See my latest article

Peta Athens decided to stop paying strata levies in 2017 after waiting since 2011 for the water pe*******on to his roof-top apartment to be fixed.He…

07/06/2026

Will residential rents in Sydney and Perth spike by 30 per cents in the next 2 years because negative gearing has been abolished? Will history repeat what happened after 1985 when negative gearing was last abolished (and then restored after 2 years)?
Great article from the Fin Review

With property prices up 400 per cent since 2000, what does a drop actually mean? And what happened last time governments made major changes to property taxes?

01/06/2026

Are hanging gardens on an apartment building a good idea?
Maybe not if the cost exceeds the environmental benefits.
See my article
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=7c551bef-480c-4599-a035-f9aa620456af