How 'a couple of old men having a fight in the toilet' landed the VFF in the Supreme Court

It all started with a WestVic Dairy meeting, where Ian Morris, former secretary of the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria's Corangamite branch came face-to-face with Peter Delahunty, Alvie, in the toilets.

What happened next is disputed but it ended up with Mr Morris being ousted from the VFF in April during his campaign for the presidency of its dairy commodity group, the UDV, on the grounds that his behaviour was prejudicial and detrimental to the interests of the federation.

Whether or not it was true that Mr Morris had "shirtfronted" Mr Delahunty was irrelevant, Justice John Dixon told Mr Morris' barrister Peter King.

He said that while the characterisation that the VFF "consisted of a couple of old men having a fight in the toilet" was an exaggeration, it was up to the board to decide whether such an event was detrimental to the federation.

"If it was a fight in the toilet, surely that is in the interests of an organisation about maintaining standards and that's a matter for the board to determine," Justice Dixon said.

Mr Morris is fighting to have his membership reinstated and, while the case has put the election of a new UDV president on hold, Mr Morris may not get the chance to fight the allegations themselves.

The VFF was represented by a Andrew Broadfoot, QC, who argued a swathe of affidavits presented by both sides should not be admitted.

Mr Broadfoot said the initiating paperwork submitted by Mr King did not contest the truth of the allegations, only whether the VFF had followed its own constitution when terminating Mr Morris' membership.

He said it meant the affidavits discussing Mr Morris' character and behaviour were irrelevant.

Mr King argued that the court needed to consider whether the board had acted reasonably, too.

"What happened to Mr. Morris was unfair, unauthorised and, and unreasonable," he said.

The hearing could stretch for more than five days.