Self-represented litigants are flooding the Federal Court. Their claims jumped 80% in a year to 861, driven by a spike in appeals. Migration cases make up more than half, while self-rep employment claims have doubled. The court says each case needs up to 3x the hearings and paperwork, and with AI now drafting filings, it’s not slowing down anytime soon: Point Blank

⚖️ Property: In Malligan v Chevron Apartments, the Queensland Supreme Court held that a developer can’t use its own missed deadline to get out of off-the-plan sales. Chevron’s contracts said it “must” settle by a five-year sunset date. It didn’t, then tried to terminate using a right that only kicked in because settlement hadn’t happened. Freeburn J sided with the buyers: a party can’t benefit from its own breach unless the contract clearly allows it. Chevron also claimed changes to the development had seriously disadvantaged the buyers, which would give them, and in turn Chevron, a right to terminate. But a modest levy rise and ongoing construction weren’t enough: MinterEllison

⚖️ Insurance: ANZ has lost its bid to recover almost $117m in class action settlements and defence costs from its insurers, led by Zurich. The class actions sought refunds of premiums, commissions and interest that customers said ANZ had improperly charged. In the Federal Court, Beach J held that repaying money you shouldn’t have received isn’t an insured loss — ANZ was simply handing back what was never its to keep. The policy’s definition of “Loss” carved out “fees, commissions, or other charges” paid to ANZ. ANZ argued premiums and interest weren’t “other charges”, but Beach J disagreed: Hall & Wilcox

⚖️ Insolvency: The Federal Government has released exposure draft legislation to overhaul the personal insolvency system. Creditors will only be able to bankrupt someone who owes at least $20k, double the current $10k threshold. Debtors will also get more time to respond to bankruptcy notices. Offering or agreeing to a debt agreement will no longer count as an act of bankruptcy. Right now, a debtor who tries to negotiate a deal in good faith can end up bankrupt for doing so. The Government will also stop listing bankrupts on the National Personal Insolvency Index forever — names will come off after seven years. Submissions close 3 November: Treasury

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Benjamin Netanyahu’s future is up in the air after a surge in Arab votes left Israel’s election deadlocked. Turnout hit 77.7%, the highest in over two decades, and exit polls have his bloc on about 50 seats and Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot is on 52-53, both short of the 61 needed to govern: AFR, ABC News

Apple spent over a decade building its first foldable, and some are cracking within hours. Owners of the new iPhone Duo report a crunching sound on opening, then a crack straight down the centre crease. Apple says only a “small number” of units are affected and is offering replacements: AFR

🤖 CBA could be sitting on a multi-billion windfall when Anthropic lists. The bank bought into the AI giant’s Series E round in March 2025, with the stake valued at A$153m last June. It’s since jumped tenfold to A$1.53bn on a US$965bn valuation. If the IPO hits US$2tn, CBA’s slice could be worth around A$3.2bn: Capital Brief

🏕️ Warburg Pincus has roped in Australian Retirement Trust and the Lederer family to carve up Ingenia Communities in its $3bn take-private push. ART would take Holiday Parks, the Lederers get Ingenia Gardens, and Warburg keeps the land lease biz. It’s pitching the local line-up as an easier ACCC and FIRB run than Avid’s rival $5.30-a-share bid: AFR

🌳 AirTrunk has locked in a $4.25bn green loan from a 32-strong lender group to keep building its SYD3 campus in Western Sydney. AirTrunk’s global committed debt now sits around $38.4bn: Capital Brief

Woodside is selling its 33.44% stake in the Greater Sunrise gas project to Timor-Leste’s state-owned TIMOR GAP for up to US$200m. But the deal’s heavily back-loaded: just US$13.71m upfront, with US$175m only landing within a year of the first LNG cargo. CEO Liz Westcott is redirecting capital to Scarborough and Louisiana LNG: The Australian

Jarden is suing former co-CEO Daniel Reynolds and banking co-head Silvana Schenone, claiming they helped Barrenjoey poach 14 staff. Schenone hit back, saying she left because of a toxic culture where complaints about management weren’t properly investigated. Jarden denies this: AFR

Shona Joy is closing after 26 years as founder Shona Thatcher focuses on her young family. It joins Cue and Sass & Bide in closing, but this one’s still profitable. Thatcher explored a sale but found no right fit. She’ll keep the IP and brand name, and all 33 staff get their full entitlements: AFR

Slater and Gordon is preparing a potential class action against Uber over drivers harassing women passengers. It’s probing whether Uber’s policies protect riders and whether it handled complaints properly. Uber argues drivers aren’t employees, so it isn’t liable: Capital Brief