The High Court has thrown out sacked climate skeptic professor Peter Ridd’s appeal of his dismissal by James Cook University, finding protection of intellectual freedom is not a “general freedom of speech”.
Mining magnate Clive Palmer and two of his mining firms have lost a High Court challenge seeking to overturn a Western Australian law which prevented him from suing the state government for $30 billion over mining tenements in the Pilbara.
Two shareholders of failed steel giant Arrium have told the High Court that granting their bid to grill former directors of the company would not be an abuse of process because it was in the public interest to “expose” the management of the defunct business.
The High Court has found casual employees who work regular shifts are not entitled to paid annual, personal and compassionate leave under the Fair Work Act, putting the fate of seven class actions by casual miners in question.
Sacked climate skeptic professor Peter Ridd brought his case challenging his dismissal by James Cook University to the High Court on Wednesday, with a lawyer for Ridd telling the justices that his sacking was unlawful because intellectual freedom was a “foundational’ principle that could not be subordinated to the university’s code of conduct.
The High Court has ordered mining magnate Clive Palmer to pay Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan’s costs for contempt proceedings brought against him during the war of words that erupted between the pair over the state’s decision to close its borders at the height of the coronavirus pandemic last year.
The High Court has tossed an appeal by the Victorian International Container Terminal which sought summary dismissal of a legal challenge to an enterprise agreement entered into with the blessing of the Maritime Union of Australia in 2016.
The High Court has rejected special leave applications by mining magnate Gina Rinehart to appeal a ruling which only partially stayed a legal dispute over ownership rights and royalties relating to the Rinehart family-owned Hope Downs iron ore mine, with one judge calling the mining magnate’s arguments a “tortured articulation” and “very odd”.
The High Court has ruled that the tax office was not obliged to refund money for tax surpluses mistakenly issued under the GST Act, in a long-running legal dispute between the Commissioner of Taxation and foreign currency exchange Travelex.
The High Court will consider whether judges should steer clear of barristers outside the court room, after a husband appealed a ruling by a judge who socialised with his wife’s lawyer during their two-year divorce trial.