jurisdiction of lower courts, page-8

I think you are kidding yourselves. In the same article athttp://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/cases/nsw/NSWCA/2006/360.html?query=ca2001172%20s254u

the judge quotes Sec 254V of the Corporations Act:

254V When does the company incur a debt?
(1) A company does not incur a debt merely by fixing the amount or time for payment of a dividend. The debt arises only when the time fixed for payment arrives and the decision to pay the dividend may be revoked at any time before then.

Do you really think they did this without proper advice?