Jim Hartley

A court has been asked to bless a “substantial” $3 million settlement in a class action against Nine over its coverage of litigation related to the 2004 Palm Island riots.

A human rights group is continuing its fight for the release of Australians held in a Syrian refugee camp, bringing its case for a writ of habeas corpus to the High Court.

Nine will pay $3 million to settle a class action over its coverage of litigation related to the 2004 Palm Island riots, it has been revealed, after the class action failed to suppress the settlement sum.

The lead applicants are seeking to drop a class action against the Northern Territory government over its alleged failure to properly fund essential health services and interpreting services in remote Indigenous communities.

The Full Federal Court has dismissed an appeal by human rights group Save the Children, which sought to bring home Australians stuck in Syrian camps, rejecting as “mere conjecture” claims that Home Affairs had a repatriation arrangement with an authority in Syria.

An environment advocacy group is seeking special leave from the High Court to appeal a decision that allowed the extension of two Mach Energy and Whitehaven Coal mega coal mines in NSW, saying courts have “enfeebled” environmental legislation.

An appeals court has dismissed an environmental advocacy group’s challenge to the extension of two Mach Energy and Whitehaven Coal mega coal mines in NSW, saying the current environmental laws are “ill-suited” to dealing with the global threat of climate change. 

A judge has rejected a bid to keep the settlement sum under wraps in a class action against Nine over its coverage of litigation related to the 2004 Palm Island riots, noting that a “ballpark” figure is already open to be deduced from the settlement deed. 

A Kurdish refugee has lost his appeal seeking compensation for being kept in makeshift hotel detention centres for 14 months after a judge found the detention lacked “human decency” but was not unlawful.

Group members in a class action against Nine over its coverage of litigation related to the 2004 Palm Island riots will receive between $2,000 to $5,200 as part of a settlement reached to resolve the case.