A judge has found the Commonwealth and Murray Darling Basin Authority are not “public authorities”, striking out large portions of their defence in a class action brought by farmers alleging negligent oversight of water management in the critical Australian river system.
Advanta Seeds has defeated a class action brought over contaminated seeds, with a court finding the Australian seed supplier did not owe a duty of care to irate farmers who allegedly suffered loss and damage from the decreased value of their sorghum crops sowed in the 2010/2011 summer season.
A lengthy dispute over insurance in a settled class action against sandalwood producer Quintis has been resolved, with the Federal Court rejecting a challenge by two insurers to the rectification of policies that could provide a further $11.25 million in recoveries to group members.
Insurer AIG Australia will have to pay collapsed diary processing firm Murray Goulburn at least $8.85 million after a court ruled it was liable to cover some of the costs of a $42 million class action settlement reached with irate investors last year.
The judge overseeing a class action against Bayer-owned Monsanto has suggested a hearing by the end of the year on the cancer risks of the company’s Roundup products, saying judgment on that question would either encourage the proceedings to settle or end the case.
A judge has ruled the plaintiffs in the Gladstone Ports class action cannot reserve the legal costs of an application to avoid disclosure of expert reports, despite finding they had raised a novel issue.
The federal government may be hit with a class action over biosecurity breaches that allegedly led to the 2016 outbreak of white spot disease in South-East Queensland that decimated the region’s commercial prawn industry.
Two insurance brokers have dodged being dragged into class action proceedings against sandalwood producer Quintis to boost a settlement reached last year, as a fight over insurance owed to the company to cover the settlement continues.
The lead applicants in a $100 million class action against Gladstone Ports Corporation have lost their bid to shield an expert loss report from being revealed in an upcoming mediation.
IOOF subsidiary Australian Executor Trustees failed to drag law firm Sparke Helmore into a case after it was hit with a $76.6 million judgment over breaches of duty in the sale of a 42,000 hectare timber plantation by collapsed forestry giant Gunns Group.