David Heaton

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.

Super fund trustee REST Nominees is the first of the Dexus bloc of APAC shareholders to challenge a finding that a default notice issued by the board of the airport operator was valid.

The forced divestiture of Dexus' stake in airport operator APAC will proceed, after a court on Friday discharged injunctions temporarily blocking the sale amid a dispute over the disclosure of confidential information.

The High Court has agreed to weigh in on whether a judge needs to consider the details of an arbitration agreement before staying related proceedings, in a suit over a project for extracting hydrocarbons in the Bass Strait.

Dexus has stood down executives, sacked its advisers and launched a review of its $7 billion infrastructure division, following last week's judgment upholding the validity of a default notice by Melbourne Airport's operator.

Dexus has lost its case over the validity of a default notice issued by Melbourne Aiport's operator, with a judge saying the real estate asset manager breached the company's confidentiality and "irrevocably undermined" its relationship with fellow shareholders.

Heads may roll after a court on Friday rejected the evidence of key Dexus employees at trial over a breach of APAC's shareholder deed, in a ruling that revealed some insiders suspected the "embarassing blunder" would come back to bite.

A judge said Tuesday evidence in a case over the sale of a stake in Melbourne Airport's operator might justify a finding that shareholder Dexus acted unethically and immorally. But whether such a finding was relevant to the validity of a default notice at the centre of the suit is another matter.

APAC issued a default notice to Dexus' infrastructure fund manager for a purported breach of a shareholder agreement during a share sales process to "get rid of" it, a trial has heard.