PRACTICE POINTS

Offsets don’t cut it

• EnergyAustralia quietly settled greenwashing proceedings from activist group Parents for Climate, dodging a Federal Court clash over its “Go Neutral” products. The group argued the “carbon neutral” label was misleading—emissions were offset, but the energy still came from fossil fuels. EnergyAustralia pulled the product in 2024 and later conceded: offsets don’t undo the harm. The case shines a light on Climate Active, the government’s carbon-neutral certification scheme. Even with certification, the ACCC expects claims to be clear and not misleading. Over 100 companies—including offset heavyweight GreenCollar—have now exited the scheme amid growing doubts about offset integrity and consumer confusion: G+T

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• From 30 June 2026, Victoria’s vilification laws are getting a major overhaul. The Racial and Religious Tolerance Act will be scrapped, with broader prohibitions added to the Equal Opportunity Act. The new laws cover race, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex characteristics and more. Employers can be vicariously liable for employee conduct unless they’ve taken reasonable steps to prevent it. Public conduct, whether verbal, written or behavioural, can trigger liability, even if the conduct is outside Victoria. Time to get your workplace policies and training in check: Allens

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• After strong union pushback, the NSW government has scrapped plans to require tribunal findings before workers can access comp for psychological injuries tied to bullying or harassment. The revised Workers Compensation Bill now allows these claims to proceed through the insurer without court findings. It also adds ‘excessive work demands’ as a standalone trigger for comp—if the workload is unreasonable, repeated, and beyond the role. While the IR Bill introduces new sexual harassment penalties, with employers facing vicarious liability and fines up to $94k: KWM

WORD ON THE STREET

HSF dealmaker jumps ship

• Tony Damian, HSF’s high-profile M&A partner, has officially landed at Ashurst, with a reported $7.5m deal in tow. Damian brings big-ticket experience—think Santos-Woodside and CSR-Saint-Gobain—and hopes clients follow. It’s part of Ashurst’s pivot to high-end corporate, after ditching its Canberra office and eyeing US expansion to keep pace with global rivals: AFR

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• Gilbert + Tobin has promoted 3 to partner and 10 to special counsel, with partner numbers down slightly from last year’s 4, but special counsel appointments up from 6. The new partners come from Corporate Advisory and Banking & Projects in Sydney and Melbourne, bringing G+T’s total partner count to 116.

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• Sparke Helmore nabs partner from Mills Oakley. Stephen Putnins has joined Sparke Helmore as a corporate and commercial partner in Melbourne, bringing a focus on super, funds, and fin regulation. The ex-Mills Oakley and NRF lawyer bolsters Sparke’s growth push, following a QLD merger in April: Lawyers Weekly

TALKING POINTS

Trump drives boutique boom

• A wave of high-profile litigators is breaking from Big Law to launch boutiques, with Trump’s legal agenda driving the shift. Four Paul Weiss alumni just unveiled Dunn Isaacson Rhee, while prominent trial lawyer Abbe Lowell launched his own firm. Both aim to tackle high-stakes litigation and challenges to the Trump administration—cases their old firms were unlikely to touch: Bloomberg

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• CBA’s market cap just passed $300bn, making it the first Aussie stock ever to do so. But its sky-high 31x forward earnings multiple has fundies gritting their teeth, with one calling it a “bubble”. Passive buying, foreign inflows and super funds are driving the rally, but critics say it’s distorting the index and starving small-caps of capital: AFR

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• You may use your iPhone notes for just about everything. But what about your ‘last will’? Well, a NSW court has rejected a $10m will written in an iPhone note, not because it was digital, but due to a lack of clear intent. The note, saved days before the man's death, was seen as a draft, not a final will. That’s nothing on a deceased who wrote their will on the back of a frozen fish box… With wills now popping up in all forms, lawyers warn: tech’s evolving, but clear and final intent still rules the day: The Australian

THE TREASURY

DEAL ROOM

$200m Sigma sell-off

• Sigma Healthcare: saw another $200m block trade cross at $3.11, with Barrenjoey behind the deal, as Chemist Warehouse-linked holders continue cashing out. The trade lands just before Sigma’s director blackout, though Damien Gance wasn’t the seller this time—he’s already pocketed $800m. Eyes now turn to the $16bn co-founder stash yet to come: AFR

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• KWM: advised lenders on Pacific Energy’s $1.6bn debt refi, with $550m in green loan tranches. Backed by QIC, Pacific has a capacity of 946MW across 48 sites and is pushing into wind, solar, batteries and green hydrogen. 15 banks across three continents joined the syndicate—Amy Maguire and Claire Rogers led the KWM team.

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• BDO: has backed Ramelius Resources’ $2.4bn takeover of Spartan, calling it fair and reasonable for shareholders. The Spartan board is already on board, and the 11 July scheme vote is now locked in. The deal offers 25c cash plus 0.7 Ramelius shares per Spartan share. Spartan has HSF in its corner, while Ramelius is being backed by Allion Partners: Capital Brief

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• Cosette: has pulled its $672m bid for Mayne Pharma, citing a “material adverse change” in Mayne’s financials—claims Mayne flatly denies. The Aussie drugmaker plans to fight it out in court, calling the termination invalid. It’s a rare twist in an Aussie takeover, and with Bruce Mathieson on the register, it’s not the last we’ll hear: AFR

SECTOR SPECIFIC

Westpac’s “liar loans”

🚜 DIGGERS

• Cobalt Holdings has scrapped its $230m London IPO, killing what would’ve been the biggest mining float since 2022. The Glencore-backed play aimed to stockpile 6,000 tonnes of physical cobalt and sell investors exposure to the battery metal without mining risk. But tepid demand sank the offer, despite cobalt prices sitting 75% off their peak after years of oversupply: mining.com

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• Pilbara Minerals’ CFO Luke Bortoli is stepping down after a run that included a $1bn credit facility and the Latin Resources deal. He’ll stay on during the handover. A replacement search is underway, with internal and external contenders in play: Mining Weekly

🏦 FIN

• ASIC is suing Westpac’s RAMS unit over years of misconduct that let franchisees push through “liar loans” using fake payslips, phony employers, and doctored expenses to meet serviceability rules. One staffer even forged a contract of sale. RAMS admits it failed to supervise its network, with ASIC calling it a “systemic governance failure”: ABC

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• In more ASIC news, the regulator is also coming for financial services comparison sites, suing Choosi for pushing life and funeral cover from one insurer while pretending to offer a broad market view. ASIC says Choosi banked $61m in commissions off “false” comparisons: The Australian

🏠 RETAIL & REAL ESTATE

• Brookfield’s dropping $15bn on a mega AI data centre in Sweden, set to be one of Europe’s largest. Spanning 3.77m sq ft in Strängnäs, it’ll take up to 15 years to build and create 1,000 long-term jobs. It’s Brookfield’s latest AI play after a €10bn AI factory in France, signalling serious infrastructure muscle behind the AI boom: Capital Brief

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• PAG is eyeing Dexus’ $260m Flinders Gate complex, in what would be its second Melbourne tower purchase in 12 months. The Hong Kong investor grabbed 367 Collins for $340m last year and is seen as a bellwether for pricing shifts. With offshore groups wary of Victoria’s taxes and high vacancy, PAG’s move signals contrarian confidence: The Australian

📱 TECH & STARTUPS

• Wordsmith just raised US$25m from Index Ventures to help in-house legal teams—from Deliveroo to Virgin—deploy AI agents that review contracts, enforce policies and answer questions in tools like Slack and Word. CEO Ross McNairn calls it “legal engineering” and says their platform helps scale legal impact without more headcount.

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• Meta has inked a 20-year deal to buy power from Constellation’s Clinton nuclear plant in Illinois to fuel its surging AI energy demands. Starting mid-2027, the deal will cover 1,121MW—enough to power a million homes. It’s Meta’s biggest power contract yet, and could pave the way for a second reactor as Big Tech races to lock in clean, stable energy: Bloomberg