News publishers facing a defamation suit by Ben Roberts-Smith have called on the war veteran to explain alleged “deliberate concealment” of documents relevant to the case, as the Australian Federal Police reveals they are investigating claims he buried evidence.
Volkswagen has lost its challenge to a landmark $125 million Dieselgate penalty handed down by a judge who lambasted a $75 million fine proposed by the ACCC as “manifestly inadequate”, in what ACCC chair Rod Sims told Lawyerly was a “turning point” for the regulator to push for higher fines.
The Commonwealth of Australia is seeking to remove all references to representative proceedings from a class action pleading that alleges the government failed to disclose the impacts of climate change to investors in sovereign bonds.
A judge has allowed four Afghan witnesses who allegedly saw Ben Roberts-Smith kick a handcuffed Afghan citizen off a cliff to give evidence remotely when the Australian war veteran’s defamation case against three newspapers heads to trial in June.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has taken the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to court for slapping nearly 1 million customers with unauthorised monthly access fees totaling $55 million over a nine-year period.
The federal government is seeking summary judgment in a lawsuit brought by One Nation chief-of-staff James Ashby alleging it took adverse action against him by refusing to foot the bill for nearly $4.5 million in legal costs stemming from a dropped sexual harassment case against former House speaker Peter Slipper.
Construction company Clough Limited has appealed a ruling that found it cannot claim over $15 million paid to employees for cancellation of their shares and options as a tax deduction.
Brisbane-based sporting goods wholesaler FE Sports has been fined $350,000 for engaging in resale price maintenance that prohibited dealers from advertising certain products for less than the recommended retail price.
The Australian Taxation Office has successfully appealed a Federal Court decision finding it could not recover an R&D tax offset refund of around $2.3 million paid to Auctus Resources despite the payment being made by mistake and the mining company admitting it was not entitled to the money.
The Full Federal Court has ruled that unconscionable conduct under the Australian Consumer Law is not confined to exploitation of vulnerable parties, in an “extremely significant” judgment that will extend the reach of the unconscionable conduct provisions and protect a wider swathe of consumers.