McDonald v Attorney-General is a cited case in New Zealand regarding satisfying the requirement in promissory estoppel for reliance by the other party.

In knowledge of all this McDonald expected the Board to purchase his wheat.

McDonald eventually sold his wheat to other parties, at a loss, and he sued the Board for compensation.

Holland J stated "In converting promissory estoppel from a "shield" to a "sword" care must be taken not to extend it further into a weapon of the nature of an atomic bomb that will destroy the existing framework of legal principle by way of provision for compensation in the fields of both contract and tort"

This article relating to case law in New Zealand is a stub.