Emrys Nekvapil

A judge asked to approve an $11 million settlement in a class action against retirement village provider Aveo is considering a proposal by court-appointed contradictors to set aside a percentage of the sum for group members, which would leave the law firm running the case $2 million out of pocket.

A decision by federal environment minister Tanya Pibersek to greenlight the extension of two mega coal mines in NSW was “legally open” to her, a judge has ruled, despite acknowledging the “existential threat” of climate change. 

Federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek’s decision to greenlight the expansion of two mega coal mines in NSW was contrary to findings by the “entire community of climate scientists around the globe”, a court has heard. 

The judge asked to approve a settlement in a class action against retirement village provider Aveo has sent a shot across the bow to law firms seeking to make broad confidentiality claims over the settlement, saying such claims should be kept “to a minimum” in class actions.

A human rights group has told the Federal Court it will file for habeas corpus in a bid to compel the federal government to bring home Australians stuck in Syrian detention camps, with eight women, all Australian citizens, and 18 children being held in Camp Roj in the country’s northeast. 

A judge has questioned an $11 million settlement in a class action against retirement village provider Aveo, resolving to appoint a contradictor and a costs referee amid a dispute between the plaintiff law firm and its litigation funder, which the court heard has “grave concerns” about the costs incurred in the case.

A class action against Aveo Group has settled for $11 million mid trial, with the law firm that brought the case expressing regret for any “distress or anxiety” it caused and acknowledging the retirement village provider’s contracts with residents were lawful. 

Clive Palmer’s Waratah Coal has abandoned a challenge to a ruling that ended its plan for a coalmine in central Queensland on the grounds that the project would contribute to “foreseeable and preventable life terminating harm”.

A court has rejected the plans of a Clive Palmer-owned mining company to dig a coalmine in central Queensland, finding the mine would infringe on the human rights of First Nations people and future generations of Queenslanders, and contribute to “foreseeable and preventable life terminating harm”.

The principal of a law firm running a class action against retirement home provider Aveo Group has agreed not to drop in on residents without giving the company notice.