The Australian Taxation Office has appealed a Federal Court judgment that healthcare company Healius could recover a tax refund and associated interest estimated to be worth about $60 million.
A Federal Court judge has slapped Volkswagen with a record $125 million penalty over its emissions cheating scandal after expressing outrage at a “manifestly inadequate” $75 million settlement agreement reached with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
A planned class action by Shine Lawyers, pegged as “Australia’s largest class action,” over allegedly toxic firefighting foam at eight Commonwealth military bases won’t be filed this month and has turned to bookbuilding following a landmark High Court ruling striking down common fund orders at the outset of class actions.
AUSTRAC’s lawsuit against Westpac over 23 million alleged breaches of money laundering and counter-terrorism laws is racing towards a possible February penalty hearing, with the bank largely in agreement with the regulator on its liability.
The Federal Court has imposed a higher-end penalty of $270,000 on the CFMEU and three officers for site obstruction, saying the union has “significant resources” and has demonstrated a “willingness to contravene industrial laws in a serious way”.
The Federal Court judge overseeing three class actions against the Commonwealth of Australia over allegedly toxic firefighting foam has criticised the government’s handling of the case, saying the court did not have to ask permission for how to run the proceedings.
Westpac CEO Brian Hartzer has stepped down after admitting he was “ultimately accountable” for failures detailed in an AUSTRAC lawsuit alleging over 23 million breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.
Bail conditions have been set for a former BlueScope Steel executive charged with obstructing an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission criminal cartel probe into the steel company, the first criminal charges ever brought against an individual in relation to an ACCC investigation.
The competition regulator has been probing alleged cartel conduct by steel giant Bluescope for a number of years, counsel for the company told a court Friday as it sought transcripts of the watchdog’s compulsory interviews of witnesses and asked for five months to put on a defence.
A Federal Court judge has expressed concerns about whether group members in three class actions against the Commonwealth over allegedly toxic firefighting foam will be blocked from pursuing personal injury claims related to the chemical.