Victoria

A judge hearing a dispute over a lot in Victoria's Merrifield Business Park has found that the Competition and Consumer Act's bar on contracts that substantially lessen competition does not apply to a market in land.

The state of Victoria has attacked the “magical thinking” of a class action over its COVID-19 hotel quarantine debacle, as the applicants seek to plead an alternative case holding the state responsible for a wave of infections.

A court has appointed provisional liquidators to Melbourne developer Lion Property Group after hearing that $120 million of investor money was not properly accounted for.

A law firm fighting for carriage of class actions against Hyundai and Kia has argued competing proceedings with a lower funding rate should not have a leg up, saying the rival firm’s budget was a "fantasy".

A six-storey shopping centre in Melbourne’s CBD has been snatched up for $80.1 million by a private investor.

A judge has approved a bid to discontinue a class action against Apple over updates that allegedly “throttled” the performance of iPhones, after the lawyers running the case failed to secure litigation funding.

A judge has OK'd a settlement in a class action against Treasury Wine Estates, along with $27 million in fees charged by Maurice Blackburn and Slater & Gordon, after initially questioning the difference between the firms' rates.

A real estate developer based in the Victorian town slated as the location for a waste-to-energy plant has lost its challenge to the proposed project.

An Acciona unit has sued Dual Australia, claiming the insurer is on the hook for $3 million in remediation for alleged design defects by a subcontractor on a Fulton Hogan quarry in Victoria. 

A judge has held off on orders requiring Maurice Blackburn to turn over financial information to Sportsbet in a class action over unlawful in-play betting, saying the parties should first confer on the issue of security for costs.