Manly Warringah Cabs ordered into liquidation after member rescue plan fails

The NSW Supreme Court has ordered Manly Warringah Cabs (Trading) Co-operative Society Ltd into liquidation after finding the 70-year-old taxi co-operative was unable to meet at least $932,842 in current liabilities and had no viable alternative to winding up.

Justice Williams appointed existing administrators Trevor Pogroske and Anthony Warner of CRS Insolvency Services as joint and several liquidators, rejecting opposition from five members who argued the co-operative could obtain finance against its principal asset, a property at Cromer valued at between $3.2 million and $4.5 million. The Court found there was no evidence that third-party lenders remained willing to advance funds after members rejected a proposal to sell the property, while a separate $310,000 member funding proposal was materially insufficient and subject to conditions unlikely to be met.

Pogroske and Warner were appointed administrators by the Registrar of Co-operatives in December 2025 following prolonged governance disputes and concerns about the co-operative’s financial position. Their investigations identified incomplete and unreconciled accounting records, unpaid superannuation, overdue workers compensation premiums, ATO payment plans and demands from taxi operators and other creditors. The co-operative had sustained operating losses and negative cash flow, while current liabilities exceeded current assets by more than $1 million.

The administrators proposed raising $1 million in interim finance, selling the Cromer property and using the proceeds to repay the funding, discharge liabilities and provide working capital for a restructured business. Because the property sale required approval by special postal ballot, the proposal was put to the co-operative’s 13 active members. Three voted in favour, eight voted against and two abstained, leading the administrators to cease trading in March and surrender the co-operative’s taxi service authorisation.

The opposing members challenged the ballot process and sought declarations that the co-operative’s active membership rules had ceased to operate after the taxi business closed, which they said would allow a broader group of members to vote on a new membership rule and the proposed rescue financing. Justice Williams dismissed that application, finding the relief would have no practical utility once the co-operative was wound up and that the member proposal was not capable of addressing its insolvency.

The Court also rejected objections to Pogroske and Warner continuing as liquidators because of their claims for approximately $475,731 in remuneration and $250,000 in legal expenses. Justice Williams found their creditor status did not disqualify them, noting that members could challenge the adjudication of those claims and that their existing knowledge of the business and preparations for a sale of the Cromer property would support a more efficient liquidation. The opposing members were ordered to pay the costs of both the winding-up application and their unsuccessful interlocutory application.

Read the decision here.