Traditional owners compare FMG damage to Juukan Gorge

October 12, 2022roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 12-Oct-22

Fortescue Metals Group faces a compensation claim from the Yindjibarndi people over the construction of its Solomon iron ore hub in the Pilbara. The compensation claim is based on a Federal Court ruling that part of the Solomon hub was built without the permission of the traditional owners. Fortescue has been accused of destroying sacred and significant sites, and the Yindjibarndi’s compensation claim will be based on factors such as cultural loss, pain and suffering, and economic loss. The Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation has likened the cultural significance of the traditional owners’ losses to Rio Tinto’s destruction of ancient Indigenous rock shelters at Juukan Gorge.

CORPORATES
FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, YINDJIBARNDI ABORIGINAL CORPORATION, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO

Court backs contract jobs

February 10, 2022roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 9 : 10-Feb-22

University of Adelaide law professor Andrew Stewart says a landmark High Court decision is a "big win" for companies which contend that their workers are independent contractors rather than employees. The court has ruled that two truck drivers who had worked exclusively for a lighting company for nearly four decades via a partnership arrangement are not employees, and are therefore not entitled to minimum pay and conditions. A majority of the court adopted a strict approach that relied almost solely on the terms of the contract itself. However, in a separate judgment the court has ruled that a British backpacker was an employee rather than a contractor, because his contract gave his construction labour hire firm the right to decide who he could work for.

CORPORATES
HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros sue telcos to block popular piracy websites

November 23, 2021roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Matthew Elmas
The New Daily – Page: Online : 23-Nov-21

Major Hollywood studies including Disney and Netflix have launched legal action against ISPs such as Telstra and Optus, demanding that they block Australians from accessing 34 websites that are linked to illegal content. With Australia regarded as a global ‘hotspot’ for film piracy, Victoria University’s senior lecturer in screen media Marc C-Scott suggests that the legal action will attract a lot of interest around the world.

CORPORATES
WALT DISNEY COMPANY, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, VICTORIA UNIVERSITY

ABC board left out on legal costs

October 27, 2021roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by James Madden, Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 3 : 27-Oct-21

The ABC’s MD David Anderson has told a Senate estimates hearing that he made the decision to pay the legal costs of journalist Louise Milligan in a defamation case, and he did not consult the public broadcaster’s board. Anderson defended his actions by saying he had legal advice to the effect that the ABC could potentially have been held vicariously liable for Milligan’s social media posts regarding Liberal MP Andrew Laming; this could have resulted in legal costs for the ABC of up to $700,000. It is estimated that the ABC has incurred legal costs of about $184,000 arising from the case.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

ABC in cover-up claim over Louise Milligan’s tweets about MP Andrew Laming

October 26, 2021roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Janet Fife-Yeomans
The Daily Telegraph – Page: Online : 26-Oct-21

The ABC is under renewed scrutiny over Andrew Laming’s defamation payout after the public broadcaster declined to release 161 documents concerning the case. The documents in question involve internal discussions regarding the tweets of journalist Louise Milligan about the federal Liberal MP. The documents were requested via freedom of information laws, but the ABC released copies of the documents in which most of the text had been blacked out. One Nation MP Mark Latham has urged Communications Minister Paul Fletcher to release all documents relating to the Laming case.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS

Qantas accused of pilot underpay

October 19, 2021roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 7 : 19-Oct-21

Former Qantas pilot Captain Andrew Hewitt has taken the airline to the Federal Court over what he contends is a shortfall in his termination payout. Hewitt, who is the son of former Qantas chairman Sir Lenox Hewitt, was among a number of pilots who were offered early retirement and redundancy packages when it stopped international flights because of the pandemic. Hewitt alleges that Qantas ‘shortchanged’ him by more than $92,000; a spokesman for Qantas says it intends to defend the claim being made against it by Hewitt.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Union scores another legal win over Qantas

September 22, 2021roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 15 : 22-Sep-21

The Federal Court has rejected Qantas’s push to delay a preliminary remedy hearing with regard to the reinstatement of ground-handling staff whose jobs had been outsourced. The preliminary hearing had been scheduled for 1 October, but Qantas argued that it should be postponed until the carrier’s appeal against the Federal Court’s recent ruling in the case is heard in 2022. The court had found that Qantas’s decision to outsource 2,000 jobs was at least partly aimed at avoiding industrial action; the airline had contended that the move was solely aimed at achieving cost savings of $100m.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Nine, News Corp resist Porter bid to protect his reputation

August 19, 2021roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michaela Whitbourn
Brisbane Times – Page: Online : 19-Aug-21

Industry Minister Christian Porter recently filed an official notice of discontinuance of his defamation action against the ABC, several months after the parties reached a settlement. Porter is now seeking a court order to prevent News Corp Australia and Nine Entertainment from using 27 pages of the ABC’s defence document that have been officially removed from the court’s public record. The media groups had previously been given access to the ABC’s full 37-page defence; Porter and his lawyers will argue that the media companies cannot use the redacted sections for any purpose other than their previous involvement in the defamation case.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE, ENERGY AND RESOURCES

Wager addict sues Crown, seeking $4.5m

August 11, 2021roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Hannah Wootton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 11-Aug-21

Crown Resorts is already facing a number of class actions regarding its conduct over the last decade. However, Ahmed Hasna has become the first individual to pursue legal action against the casino operator. Hasna alleges that Crown took advantage of his gambling addiction and encouraged him to gamble on credit. He is seeking to recover about $4.5m that he gambled at Crown, and alleges that Crown’s treatment of him amounted to unconscionable conduct. Peter Lawrence, Crown’s head of VIP customer service, had told the Victorian royal commission that the group’s treatment of Mr Hasna was irresponsible.

CORPORATES
CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN

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