Australian Government Solicitor

A judge who signed off on a settlement in a class action against the  government by sovereign bondholders over the disclosure of climate risks said proving climate change posed a risk to government coffers may not be as difficult as the government has claimed.

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. 

A judge has approved the settlement of a class action brought on behalf of sovereign bondholders over the disclosure of climate change risks, despite a late scrap with the government over whether the deal puts a stop to future cases.

A class action on behalf of 121 children who allege they were wrongfully detained in adult prisons or immigration detention due to flawed age testing has settled for $27.5 million.

The Office of the Special Investigator has been granted access to sensitive evidence in Ben Roberts-Smith’s unsuccessful defamation case against Fairfax for its investigation into war crimes in Afghanistan. 

BlueScope Steel is challenging a ruling that it pay a record $57.5 million penalty for engaging in attempted price fixing with flat steel distributors.

A judge has ordered National Australia Bank to pay just one-fifth the $10 million penalty proposed by ASIC for overcharging customer fees, taking aim at the regulator’s concise pleading and saying the maximum penalty he could order was “woefully inadequate”.

A judge has rejected the energy regulator’s claims that the owner of the Pelican Point power station in Adelaide failed to disclose its complete generator capacity to the energy market operator for months, contributing to rolling blackouts during a 2017 heatwave.

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. 

CBA should pay a penalty of $12.8 million — close to the maximum penalty the court can impose on the bank — for underpaying its staff to the tune of $16.4 million, a judge has heard.