Nicholas Owens

Ben Roberts-Smith, who is suing Fairfax for defamation, has lost an appeal of a judge’s decision refusing cross-examination of his ex-wife over allegations she accessed his private emails.

The High Court has declined special leave to a class action to challenge a ruling that found dam operator Seqwater was not liable for the 2011 Queensland floods, after the state of Queensland and subcontractor Sunwater agreed to pay $440 million last year to settle their share of the liability in the long-running case.

The structural engineer behind Sydney’s Opal Tower has taken builder Icon’s insurers to court, arguing they should cover its costs in a class action brought on behalf of residents of the ill-fated building and related litigation.

Embattled war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith continues to pursue legal action against his ex-wife, having applied for leave to appeal a Federal Court decision disallowing cross-examination over allegations she accessed his private emails.

Decorated Afghanistan war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith has accused his ex-wife of lying to journalists, lawyers and the court in order to “seek revenge” for his alleged infidelity.

Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith told his wife she would lose access to their children if she did not lie to his lawyers and the media about his extramarital affair, a court has heard.

Australia’s most decorated Afghanistan war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith told a former SAS soldier that when he “blew the brains out” of a young Afghan man it was “the most beautiful thing [he’d] ever seen”, a court has heard.

A SAS sergeant testifying for Fairfax Media in the Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial has admitted he told an investigative reporter the decorated veteran machine-gunned a disabled man during the war in Afghanistan, but insisted everything he said was true.

It was common knowledge that SAS soldiers sought the retraction of a “bulls–t” commendation awarded to war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith for acts of bravery in Afghanistan in 2012, a trial in a defamation case against Fairfax has heard.

The corporate watchdog has been subpoenaed for its investigation files in the latest development in a protracted discovery fight in a shareholder class action over alleged misconduct by wealth manager IOOF.