A judge has partially struck out mining magnate Clive Palmer’s defence to WA Premier Mark McGowan’s defamation claim over statements which allegedly accused the premier of corruption, abusing his position and lying about the decision to close the state’s borders at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
A Federal Court judge has ordered that a referee consider how junior barristers were used in assessing the legal costs in an insurance class action against Westpac which the bank has agreed to pay up to $30 million to settle.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is resisting a novel proposal by ASIC to use its CommBank app to notify 6.3 million customers of a $7 million fine against it for overcharging interest, saying the move would pose a “significant risk” to the public.
A judge has urged parties in a class action against Westpac over superannuation fees to hold an in-person mediation, saying that success rates have “plummeted” during the COVID-19 pandemic as more settlement talks are held virtually.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has called on Apple and Google to seize a “window of opportunity” to address the regulator’s concerns about their significant power in the app marketplace or face possible regulation.
The federal government has been hit with a class action on behalf of up to 6,000 Indigenous Australians seeking compensation for their forcible removal from their families in the Northern Territory from 1910 to the 1970s.
Westpac has agreed to pay up to $30 million to settle a long-running class action over allegedly excessive insurance premiums which included a trip to the High Court that resulted in common fund orders being struck down in the early stages of class actions.
The Victorian gaming regulator has hit Crown Melbourne with the maximum fine of $1 million for failing to comply with regulations for vetting junket operations.
Defence minister Peter Dutton has brought defamation proceedings against a refugee activist who labelled Dutton a “rape apologist” on Twitter, but the activist says he was expressing an honest opinion and says politicians should have thicker skins.
A judge has found he has power to order that opt out notices be sent to a limited number of Boral shareholders eligible to join two class actions that faced off last month in a class action beauty parade.
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