David Batt

A judge has approved a $550 million settlement in a class action over the Morrison government’s Robodebt scheme but has halved a funder’s payout to $35 million, despite arguments that it was unprecedented to award a single digit percentage commission. 

The funder that backed a class action over the Morrison government’s Robodebt scheme, which settled for a record $548.5 million, is seeking a $71 million commission, but a contradictor has told the court a $23 million cut will suffice.

A judge has refused to order a competitive tender process for the administration of a $549 million settlement in a class action over the Morrison government’s Robodebt scheme, while also questioning the funder’s bid for a $71 million commission.

Property developer Castleway has succeeded in its challenge to a ruling limiting its payment entitlements under a development agreement with TPC Group.

Class action settlements hit major milestones last year, with the year’s largest settlements totalling $1.6 billion and one case resolving for a historic $548.5 million.

Grand Ridge Plantations has lost an appeal seeking to halve the official valuation of its Gippsland timber forest, with a court finding that the trees on the land must be included in its assessed value.

The funder of a class action over the Morrison government’s Robodebt scheme will seek a 15 per cent commission at an upcoming settlement approval hearing, a court has heard, after the case settled for a record $548.5 million. 

The High Court has rejected a special leave application by the owners of land acquired to build a Melbourne freeway that sought to overturn an "erroneous" appeals court decision which left them with $2 million for land worth over $30 million.

Japan-based Mitsui has sued Esso Australia and Woodside Energy, its partners in the Kipper gas field in the Bass Strait, disputing their claims that it owes $298 million in taxes and alleging it overpaid fees to the tune of $20.3 million. 

A judge has ordered Adina West Melbourne to pay $2.3 million to Trenerry's West End LandCo, including $1 million in unpaid rent, despite finding COVID-19 lockdowns were a force majeure event under the lease.