APPELLATE COURTS – AUSTRALIA

Secret state backing anti-mining activists

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Original article by James Dowling
The Australian – Page: 5 : 10-Dec-25

The Minerals Council of Australia has criticised a court’s decision to impose a 30-year suppresssion order on much of the evidence that informed the federal government’s decision to block development of the McPhillamys gold mine in NSW. Federal Court judge James Stellios contended amongst other things that the suppression order was necessary to "prevent prejudice to the proper administration of justice" and to uphold Indigenous traditional law. However, a spokesman for the MCA says the decision has made Australia a "secret state" that supports the interests of anti-mining activists

CORPORATES
MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Fortescue insists spying on families wasn’t inappropriate

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Original article by Angelica Snowden
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 21-Aug-24

Fortescue is being represented by Julian Cooke SC in its intellectual property dispute with ‘green iron’ start-up Element Zero. The company was founded by former Fortescue employees Bart Kolodziejczyk, Bjorn Winther-Jensen and Michael Masterman, allegedly using the iron ore miner’s intellectual property. Cooke has defenced Fortescue’s use of a private investigator to place the three executives and their families under surveillance, telling the Federal Court that there was a real risk that information pertaining to the pending court case could have been destroyed. The surveillance operation was followed by raids on the homes and business premises of the Element Zero directors

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE LIMITED – ASX FMG, ELEMENT ZERO PTY LTD, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Fortescue ‘portrayed former execs as dishonest’, court told

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Original article by Angelica Snowden
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 20-Aug-24

Element Zero is seeking to have search orders awarded to Fortescue in May by Federal Court judge Melissa Perry thrown out; Parry granted the orders on the back of allegations that former Fortescue executives who are now directors of Element Zero had stolen Fortescue’s intellectual property. In trying to convince Federal Court judge Brigitte Markovic that the orders granted by Parry should be thrown out, the Element Zero directors told the court on Monday that Fortescue had sought to portray them as ‘shady actors’ who were seeking to steal its ‘green iron secrets’ so as to justify its request for the orders, which saw it raid their homes and offices.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE LIMITED – ASX FMG, ELEMENT ZERO PTY LTD, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Hundreds more immigration detainees could be released in sequel to NZYQ high court ruling

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 16-Feb-24

Attorney general Mark Dreyfus has asked that the High Court hear a case that could see hundreds more immigration detainees released in the wake of the NZYQ ruling on indefinite detention, rather than it be heard as an appeal by the full federal court. The case revolves around the issue of whether people in immigration detention have to be released if their refusal to co-operate has prevented them from being deported, with the Commonwealth to argue that it should have the right to detain people who refuse to co-operate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Qantas fends off unfair pay claims from aircraft engineers’ union

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Original article by Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 17-Feb-20

Qantas has won a lengthy legal dispute with the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers’ Association regarding how much it pays its engineers when they have additional training and qualifications. The Federal Court ruled it was Qantas to decide when and how it recognised extra certificates secured by its engineers, and it was not obliged to pay them more in such circumstances unless it met criteria under the relevant industrial agreement. It is the second time in two years that the Federal Court has dismissed a challenge by the ALAEA against Qantas on the issue of pay for extra training and qualifications.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AUSTRALIAN LICENSED AIRCRAFT ENGINEERS’ ASSOCIATION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

TPG-Vodafone merger victory

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Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian – Page: 19 & 24 : 14-Feb-20

Federal Court Justice John Middleton ruled on 13 February that the $15 billion merger between Vodafone and TPG should be allowed to proceed. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission had vetoed the merger in May on the grounds that it would leave market power in the hands of three big telcos, but Justice Middleton said leaving Vodafone and TPG as separate entities would not create more competition in the retail mobile market. Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said the merger is likely to benefit consumers and lead to greater competition.

CORPORATES
TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, VODAFONE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

Employer bid to decouple union

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Original article by Dana McCauley
The Age – Page: 15 : 21-Nov-18

A legal challenge to the merger between the Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union and the Maritime Union of Australia will commence in the Federal Court on 21 November. The Australian Mines & Metals Association is seeking to have the merger declared invalid on the grounds that the two unions were subject to "quasi-criminal" legal proceedings when the merger was approved.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

Union beats $51k fine for shorts call

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 8 : 14-Nov-18

The Federal Circuit Court’s decision to fine the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union’s for failing to comply with a dress code for workers on a building site has been overturned on appeal. The CFMMEU was fined $51,000 over strike action after a project manager ordered construction workers to wear trousers and long-sleeved shirts at the Newcastle site. Union organiser Pomare Auimatagi was fined $7,500. The Federal Court has ruled that the fines were "manifestly excessive".

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA, JOHN HOLLAND PTY LTD

Employers face $8b back pay bill for casuals

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 13-Sep-18

The Australian Industry Group estimates employers may have to fork out as much as $8 billion in back pay to "regular" casuals following a recent court decision. The decision involved Workpac and a casual mine driver, with the Federal Court finding he was entitled to be paid accrued annual leave because the hours he worked were regular and predictable, even though he received additional pay in lieu of leave entitlements. The AIG estimates around 1.6 million workers could be deemed "regular casuals", with its calculation of how much they might be owed based on granting them paid leave for the past five years. Employer groups were hoping Workpac would challenge the decision in the High Court, but it has elected not to do so.

CORPORATES
THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, WORKPAC PTY LTD, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

CFMEU should be deregistered: judges

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 15-Aug-18

The militant Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union has been fined more than $500,000 in two separate court rulings. The Federal Court rejected the union’s appeal against a fine of $306,000 imposed in 2017 over the conduct of its former Queensland president David Hanna. Justice John Logan criticised the CFMMEU’s poor track record regarding compliance with workplace laws and likened the union to its deregistered predecessor, the Builders Labourers Federation. The CFMMEU has also been fined $271,500 for breaching right-of-entry laws.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, BUILDERS’ LABOURERS’ FEDERATION, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION