Judges

A Sydney council will argue its compulsory acquisition of two properties in Rouse Hill was part of a broader urban development public purpose, rather than the narrower purpose provided in its acquisition notice.

The husband of former Real Housewives of Melbourne star Venus Behbahani-Clark has told a court that his sister-in-law "happily" signed a deed giving his wife a $2 million Toorak townhouse.

The state of Victoria has been hit with a $500,000 judgment after three public servants were found negligent for failing to advertise Crown leases over Gabo Island and Tullaberga Island, a failure which has shut abalone fishers out of the area since 2019. 

The Full Court has rejected an appeal by the tax office over the classification of a redundancy payment, finding that an early learning centre worker who was offered reduced hours and pay as part of a restructure was made redundant.

A judge has ordered oil company Lighthouse to pay further security for costs in its $600 million case against the government of East Timor, a "hard fought contest" he said was unlikely to resolve ahead of trial.

A judge has thrown out a class action led by the father of famed mining investor Nathan Tinkler over claims ASX-listed Whitehaven Coal failed to fulfil an implied term of a $150 million share subscription. 

A former star of Real Housewives of Melbourne has denied altering text messages in a case alleging her sister gave her a $2 million Toorak townhouse in return for relinquishing her stake in a music production business.

A judge has struck out sections of natural gas exporter Australia Pacific LNG’s defence in Tri-Star’s long-running case over coal seam gas fields in Queensland, which centres on a $7.6 billion share sale to ConocoPhillips.

The tax office has won the appointment of special purpose liquidators to entities behind a number of Queensland construction projects, as it seeks to claw back a claimed $16 million debt.

A judge has upheld IAG’s privilege claim over a technical paper prepared by an actuarial consultant, finding that the report was not merely forwarded to the legal team to cloak it in privilege.