An Alternative Perspective on Northcote Shopping Centre Pty Ltd v ALDI Foods Pty Ltd [2026] VSCA 140

The Cap That Stayed

When Northcote launched a bold appeal,
Convinced its case would seal the deal,
It claimed the RLA forbade
The rent review cap the parties made.

The lease contained a tenant's shield,
A limit on what rent could yield;
On market rent and CPI,
The cap restrained the figure's rise.

"The cap won't do," the landlord cried,
"A second method lurks inside.
Section thirty-five admits but one;
These clauses therefore cannot run."

Yet Croft had heard the claim before
And firmly closed the courtroom door.
He read the Act from start to end
And found no text the claim could lend.

Still Northcote pressed its doubtful case,
Despite Croft's careful, reasoned pace.
It climbed the steps of appeal once more,
And knocked again on Justice's door.

But there the Court cut through the fog
And followed statute over slog.
A cap, they held, does not review;
It merely limits what rent may do.

The rent is found by market rent,
Or CPI as parties meant.
The method stays exactly so;
The cap limits how far it goes.

No fresh formula comes to life,
No rival source of leasing strife.
The review remains what it has been;
The cap adjusts what may be seen.

A parameter, the judges said,
Not some new path that must be tread.
The review's source remains the same;
The cap does not disturb the frame.

Then Hopper argued, skilled and wise,
That history might guide their eyes.
He traced old amendments through the years
And pressed the point before his peers.

Yet history could not win the day;
The statutory text held sway.
When Parliament has spoken plain,
The words themselves must still remain.

The language bore a meaning clear;
No hidden message hovered near.
No distant debates could override
The words the legislature chose to guide.

So Croft was proved entirely right;
His reasoning survived the fight.
The Court refused leave and cleared the way
For lawful caps to stand today.

With Birdsong's guidance, calm and strong,
Exposing where the claim was wrong,
While Robert Hay carried the day,
The landlord's challenge fell away.

Thus ALDI kept the deal it won,
And text and common sense were one.
The cap remained; the law found peace,
Still guarding tenants through the lease.

Thus ALDI kept the bargain made,
And all the landlord's hopes did fade.
The cap survived; the law found peace,
Still standing guard throughout the lease.

A poetic summary of the arguments, reasoning and outcome in Northcote Shopping Centre Pty Ltd v ALDI Foods Pty Ltd [2026] VSCA 140, embellished with a modest degree of poetic licence and an unwavering affection for rent-review caps.