The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission maintains its $75 million settlement agreement with Volkswagen over the emissions cheating scandal was “appropriate”, as VW progresses its appeal of the $125 million penalty imposed by a judge who called the ACCC agreement “manifestly inadequate”.
The High Court has quashed a search warrant obtained by the Australian Federal Police and used to raid a News Corp journalist’s home, but did not go so far as to order the return or destruction of documents obtained in the raid.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has lost its bid for indemnity costs against the Australian Federal Police in a case brought to block access to documents seized during a search of its headquarters last year.
The judge overseeing the $212.5 million settlement in three toxic foam class actions against the Commonwealth of Australia has been told of at least one objection to the deal and has flagged difficulties taking submissions from opposing group members at an upcoming approval hearing.
For the lawyers conducting the committal hearings in the criminal cartel case over ANZ’s $2.5 billion equity raising, the Sydney Downing Centre courtroom was already too close for comfort.
Billionaire Clive Palmer has lost his appeals court fight to shut down criminal proceedings alleging his resort company breached takeover laws, with three judges saying his claims were untenable.
Australia’s second largest debt recovery agency has been ordered to pay $500,000 after the company admitted breaching Australia’s consumer laws by unduly harassing and misleading three people over debts they did not owe.
Facebook has been hit with regulatory action by the Privacy Commissioner alleging the social media giant exposed the personal information of over 300,000 Australian users to third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, without authorisation.
The ACCC has asked for an interim stay of an appeal by Indonesian airline Garuda, which has yet to pay a $19 million penalty for airline price fixing, telling the court it wanted to give the company another chance to explain its “entirely exceptional” non-compliance.
The ACCC claims it was not required to prove Kimberly-Clark’s flushable wipes caused actual harm to sewers, as it challenges a ruling that disposed of its consumer law case against the personal care giant.