David Heaton

The High Court has agreed on an early November hearing date in a dispute over Bass Strait hydrocarbon royalties, despite a plea to the heavens by counsel for Esso and Woodside.

REST Nominees has lost an injunction bid barring the sale of the Dexus bloc of shares in Melbourne Airport's operator pending an appeal, after refusing to give an undertaking that it foot the entire damages bill if its challenge fails.

Airport operator APAC says a default notice sent to Dexus over confidentiality breaches is at least valid against shareholders that initiated a botched sales process, hedging its bets in an appeal of a ruling that forces a sale of the asset manager's entire stake.

Dexus' decision to resist an undertaking as part of a deal to temporarily block the compulsory sale of its shares in airport operator APAC has been criticised by a judge for resulting in an "appalling waste" of time and money.

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.