Justice Lee slams airline’s “wrong sorry”

ANZ axes 3500 roles, 1000 contractors

HSF targets 30% revenue from USA

The TWU’s five-year war with Qantas ended with a record $90m penalty, but the real fight was between legal heavyweights. Maurice Blackburn ran the union's case, backed by a powerhouse team of silks including Noel Hutley SC. Qantas, repped by HSF Kramer, fired back with Bret Walker SC and Justin Gleeson SC - but couldn’t dodge Justice Lee’s punches. He called out Qantas for being “the wrong kind of sorry”. Check out our full article here.

It’s been 100 days since the HSF Kramer merger, and it’s already set high ambitions. The top firm wants 30% of revenue from the US, up from 22% today. CEO Justin D’Agostino and senior partner Rebecca Maslen-Stannage say the firm’s building out in NY, DC, and Silicon Valley, eyeing energy growth and plans to add up to 20 US partners in the next year: Law.com

An aspiring accountant has been permanently barred from working in law firms after stealing over $88,000 from Sydney-based Tahota Law. The NSW tribunal found she misappropriated staff wages and office funds, falsified payroll records, and shifted trust money without authority. Li admitted guilt, settled for $200k, and said she was “ashamed”: Lawyers Weekly

The Federal Court has ruled that Coles and Woolworths can’t use above-award salaries to “balance out” underpayments across pay periods. Justice Perram found set-off only works within the same pay cycle. So if an employee is underpaid for overtime in one fortnight, you can’t cover it with “excess” pay from another. The case, tied to alleged underpayments of $115m at Coles and $1.1m at Woolies, means employers relying on pooled salary clauses must rethink compliance. With bigger penalties, FWO action, and class actions mounting, businesses will need tighter payroll systems: KWM

The ACCC has launched civil cartel proceedings in the Federal Court against four Sydney mobile crane hire companies and four senior execs. The regulatory alleges they colluded to boycott certain customers and sites. The watchdog says the group used WhatsApp chats called “Crane Companies” and “Big 3” to coordinate conduct that hit major projects between 2020–24. Alleged attempts included fixing crane hire rates and cross-hire fees. With penalties now up to $50m for corporations and $2.5m for individuals, this case is set to test the ACCC’s push to crack down on collusion in critical sectors like construction and infrastructure: ACCC

The Attorney-General has introduced the Freedom of Information Bill 2025, billed as the biggest overhaul of the FOI regime since 1982. Key changes include application fees, scrapping anonymous or pseudonymous requests, shifting deadlines to working days, and a new processing cap for burdensome claims. The Bill also rewires exemptions for Cabinet and deliberative processes, tightens rules on deemed refusals, and lets agencies reject vexatious or frivolous requests. The AG says the reforms will prioritise genuine applications, protect Cabinet confidentiality, and guard against abuse by “offshore actors”. If passed, agencies and practitioners alike will face a far tougher framework for managing FOI requests: Maddocks

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant says 10- and 11-year-olds are spending up to six hours a day on AI chatbots, many of them sexualised. From Tuesday, new codes will stop kids having sexual, violent or harmful chats with AI companions. Inman Grant says it’ll be the first law globally forcing companies to embed safeguards and age checks before launch: ABC

The Murdoch family has struck a USD3.3bn (A$5bn) settlement ending years of litigation over the Murdoch Family Trust. Lachlan Murdoch takes control via a new trust holding 36% of Fox and 33% of News Corp, while Prudence, Elisabeth and James each pocket about USD1.1bn. It closes a decades-long battle sparked by Rupert’s divorce and the failed ‘Project Family Harmony’: Capital Brief

Bruce Lehrmann has filed a new Federal Court application targeting Minister Don Farrell and NACC boss Paul Brereton, seeking judicial review. Details remain scarce, but it comes as Lehrmann awaits the outcome of his appeal in the failed defamation case against Ten and Lisa Wilkinson, where the court found he raped Brittany Higgins on the balance of probabilities: ABC

ACCC: has cleared its first two cases under the new merger regime – and they weren’t takeovers, but leases. Lawyers say it’s needless red tape dragging routine deals into review. Meanwhile, FIRB’s door has never been more open to quiet pre-deal checks, leaving dealmakers juggling a strange two-regulator split: AFR

BHP: has tapped Macquarie and UBS to shop its loss-making Nickel West unit, which carries $US900m in closure liabilities. A data room will open on its WA mines, smelter, refinery and West Musgrave project, but insiders expect the business may need to be carved up to shift. Nickel’s slump has already forced a $US3.5bn writedown: The Australian

PointsBet: is now officially a MIXI subsidiary, with the Japanese group taking its stake past 51%. Betr has conceded its $402m all-scrip play is dead, with no synergies to be had, and MIXI has flatly ruled out collaborating or sharing board seats. Betr’s left holding stock but little sway: Capital Brief

It’s that time of the year again - GST showdown. WA’s GST dream team - Twiggy Forrest, Wesfarmers chairman Michael Chaney and banker John Poynton - have reunited to defend WA’s GST share. WA’s deal has delivered $20bn since 2018, but rivals argue it’s a “massive free kick” for the resources-rich state: The Australian

Rio Tinto will source offsets from Meldora, a new $250m farmland platform backed by Canada’s La Caisse and the CEFC. The venture will plant native species across 15,000ha in Queensland to generate high-integrity carbon credits, helping Rio meet its Safeguard liabilities at sites like Weipa and Gladstone. For La Caisse, it’s their first global carbon credit investment: AFR

Macquarie Asset Management will open a Saudi base in Riyadh after signing an MoU with the kingdom’s $1.4tn sovereign fund. The partnership will chase deals in digital infra, EV charging and energy storage, tied to Saudi’s Vision 2030, which aims to attract US$100bn in FDI annually by 2030: Capital Brief

ANZ will cut 3500 roles and dump 1000 contractors in a $560m restructure under new CEO Nuno Matos. The overhaul follows a McKinsey-led review and comes just months after Matos replaced Shayne Elliott. While the bank must keep headcount steady by 2027 under its Suncorp deal, it can shed jobs now and rehire later: AFR

AsheMorgan and Toga are suing Growthbuilt for $91.7m over delays and cost blowouts at Sydney’s Oxford & Foley project, meant to revive the strip with tenants like Sony and MAAP. Growthbuilt, dumped from the job last year, denies the claims and has filed counterarguments, dragging in subcontractors. The long-delayed precinct is finally set to open its first building this month: The Australian

Hancock Prospecting’s $250m twin-tower precinct in West Perth has hit a delay, with the WA Planning Commission extending its review beyond the 120-day fast-track deadline. The 62m towers, pitched as a “work meets wellness” hub, would replace two offices and a heritage home. Heritage pushback and 70 public submissions have stirred controversy, but Rinehart’s empire is pressing ahead with broader $400m precinct plans: AFR

Atlassian has axed 200 customer roles in Europe, weeks after Mike Cannon-Brookes sacked 150 staff whose jobs could be replaced by AI. Cuts hit support teams in the Netherlands, France and India, on top of 44 roles in Australia. Atlassian says better ticketing tools and AI have slashed manual queries: The Australian

Andromeda, founded by 25-year-old Grace Brown from Melbourne, has raised $23m in a Series A led by Forerunner, Rethink Impact and Main Sequence, valuing the robotics start-up at $100m. Its humanoid robot Abi helps aged care residents with daily routines and companionship. The cash will ramp up production from 8 to 100 robots a month and fund a US launch: AFR