Latest news with #HighCourtofAustralia
The Age
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Age
New Year's Eve no longer a time to Shrine
Russians in the High Court Brace yourselves. The Russians are coming for the High Court of Australia. Last week, the country's top court heard an appeal by the Russian Federation against laws created by the Albanese government to effectively cancel a lease for Russia's new Canberra embassy, down the road from Parliament House, on national security grounds. Russia claimed the lease cancellation was 'Russophobic hysteria', and quickly retained the services of Australia's foremost High Court winner, Bret Walker, SC, who led a challenge to the laws' constitutional validity. The day after that hearing, the court announced it would consider another high-profile case, this time brought by billionaire Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. An industrialist with a stake in an alumina refinery in Gladstone and ties to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, Deripaska was sanctioned by the Morrison government following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The designation stopped Deripaska from travelling to Australia or profiting from his company's share in the Gladstone refinery. Deripaska has been fighting those sanctions ever since, arguing that they are constitutionally invalid because they stop him travelling to Australia to challenge them. Last week, the High Court granted Deripaska special leave to appeal a March decision of Federal Court judges rejecting his argument. The sanctions against Deripaska, which aligns with similar decisions made by the United States, United Kingdom and European Union following the Ukraine invasion, were implemented by Marise Payne in her then role as foreign minister. And at the centre of the oligarch's legal challenge is one of Payne's old cabinet comrades, former attorney-general Christian Porter, who quit parliament before the 2022 election after using anonymous donors to fund an aborted defamation case against the ABC after the public broadcaster reported a historic rape allegation against him (which Porter has always denied). Porter, as CBD regulars would recall, has returned to the Perth bar with gusto, where he's acted in a series of high-profile cases. Which has now brought him into the orbit of a billionaire Russian oligarch, and paved the way for a dramatic return to Canberra. Steel yourself for a swim Spare a thought for the residents of Kew, who have to schlep off to the nearby eastern suburbs of Balwyn or Hawthorn for a swim after promises of a new recreation centre came crashing down. Kew Recreation Centre on High Street was knocked down to make way for a slick $73 million centre with pools, childcare, fitness rooms, indoor sports courts and a party room, all intended to be available from mid-2023. Unfortunately, like many knockdown-rebuild jobs, what came next was inferior to what it replaced. The centre's roof collapsed overnight in 2022, triggering Victorian Building Authority and WorkSafe investigations, and a blame game that continues to this day. The building authority has charged builder ADCO Group and its director, John Conroy, over the collapse, while WorkSafe's case against ADCO and facade contractor Colab Building are scheduled for a return to court next month. Boroondara Mayor Sophie Torney has been assuring residents the new centre 'is taking shape' and will be all-electric when it finally opens. So, when's the big day? Will the kids who should have learnt to swim there be adults by then? Council minutes show it was once expected the new pool would open in early 2025. But the council's website now says doors will open in late 2026. Boroondara Council told CBD it was working with the contractor 'to determine the opening date of the centre'. All going swimmingly then. Uncertainty maxes out for ADH TV Ever since broadcaster Alan Jones was arrested and charged with dozens of indecent assault offences last year (to which he has pleaded not guilty), the fate of the conservative media ecosystem that revolved around him has appeared increasingly uncertain. Jones was the face of online right-wing outrage merchants ADH TV, founded in 2021 by twenty-something chief executive Jack Bulfin and boosted by a very generous investment by billionaire nepo baby James Packer. Jones was a conspicuous absence from ADH TV ever since this masthead first reported allegations of groping a year before the criminal charges were laid. Now, the company is struggling to adjust to life after Alan. First, its plans to acquire regional TV licences from Southern Cross Austereo fell apart after Seven West Media stepped in. That's left us a little sceptical about the success of ADH's $42 million bid to buy the radio assets of this masthead's owners, Nine. But ADH's most newsworthy ploy is its deal to become an Australian launchpad for American conservative cable TV station Newsmax, a once niche Florida-based broadcaster which has had its influence turbo-charged by Dona ld Trump 's rise. ADH TV has since rebranded its online profile and social media accounts as Newsmax Australia, which the website said in January was 'coming soon'. But so far, nobody seems to know when that is, or what it will look like. Rumours that Newsmax had enlisted former NRL Footy Show host Erin Molan as a flagship presenter turned out to be just that. Molan has since landed a rather bizarre gig hosting an Elon Musk -backed show called 69X Minutes on the platform formerly known as Twitter. Molan is also set to unveil an eponymous show on the Salem Network, a Christian family-themed American broadcaster financially backed by the president's failson, Donald Trump Jr. Which probably takes her out of the running. Presenters at ADH TV who remained hopeful of broadcasting with Newsmax have no sense of when they'll be back on air, if at all. We've heard whispers of an October launch, but little more. Bulfin didn't return our calls. A complicated, and as yet, unsettled situation, it seems, that left CBD wondering whether Newsmax Australia would ever see the light of day. Which to us, is a sad day for Australian media. ADH TV provided a welcome home for so many of the right's has-beens: former Australian Christian Lobby boss Lyle Shelton, arch-monarchist David Flint, twice-rehabilitated News Corp broadcaster Chris Smith and, for some reason, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price 's husband.
The Age
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Age
New Year's Eve no longer planned for Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance
Brace yourselves. The Russians are coming for the High Court of Australia. Last week, the country's top court heard an appeal by the Russian Federation against laws created by the Albanese government to effectively cancel a lease for Russia's new Canberra embassy, down the road from Parliament House, on national security grounds. Top barrister Bret Walker. Credit: Steven Siewert Russia claimed the lease cancellation was 'Russophobic hysteria', and quickly retained the services of Australia's foremost High Court winner, Bret Walker, SC, who led a challenge to the laws' constitutional validity. The day after that hearing, the court announced it would consider another high-profile case, this time brought by billionaire Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. An industrialist with a stake in an alumina refinery in Gladstone and ties to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, Deripaska was sanctioned by the Morrison government following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The designation stopped Deripaska from travelling to Australia or profiting from his company's share in the Gladstone refinery. Former attorney-general Christian Porter, now a Perth-based barrister. Credit: Trevor Collens Deripaska has been fighting those sanctions ever since, arguing that they are constitutionally invalid because they stop him travelling to Australia to challenge them. Last week, the High Court granted Deripaska special leave to appeal a March decision of Federal Court judges rejecting his argument. The sanctions against Deripaska, which aligns with similar decisions made by the United States, United Kingdom and European Union following the Ukraine invasion, were implemented by Marise Payne in her then role as foreign minister. And at the centre of the oligarch's legal challenge is one of Payne's old cabinet comrades, former attorney-general Christian Porter, who quit parliament before the 2022 election after using anonymous donors to fund an aborted defamation case against the ABC after the public broadcaster reported a historic rape allegation against him (which Porter has always denied). Porter, as CBD regulars would recall, has returned to the Perth bar with gusto, where he's acted in a series of high-profile cases. Which has now brought him into the orbit of a billionaire Russian oligarch, and paved the way for a dramatic return to Canberra. Steel yourself for a swim Spare a thought for the residents of Kew, who have to schlep off to the nearby eastern suburbs of Balwyn or Hawthorn for a swim after promises of a new recreation centre came crashing down. Kew Recreation Centre on High Street was knocked down to make way for a slick $73 million centre with pools, childcare, fitness rooms, indoor sports courts and a party room, all intended to be available from mid-2023. Unfortunately, like many knockdown-rebuild jobs, what came next was inferior to what it replaced. The centre's roof collapsed overnight in 2022, triggering Victorian Building Authority and WorkSafe investigations, and a blame game that continues to this day. The site of the Kew Recreation Centre construction collapse in October 2022. Credit: Jason South The building authority has charged builder ADCO Group and its director, John Conroy, over the collapse, while WorkSafe's case against ADCO and facade contractor Colab Building are scheduled for a return to court next month. Boroondara Mayor Sophie Torney has been assuring residents the new centre 'is taking shape' and will be all-electric when it finally opens. So, when's the big day? Will the kids who should have learnt to swim there be adults by then? Council minutes show it was once expected the new pool would open in early 2025. But the council's website now says doors will open in late 2026. Boroondara Council told CBD it was working with the contractor 'to determine the opening date of the centre'. All going swimmingly then. Uncertainty maxes out for ADH TV Ever since broadcaster Alan Jones was arrested and charged with dozens of indecent assault offences last year (to which he has pleaded not guilty), the fate of the conservative media ecosystem that revolved around him has appeared increasingly uncertain. Jones was the face of online right-wing outrage merchants ADH TV, founded in 2021 by twenty-something chief executive Jack Bulfin and boosted by a very generous investment by billionaire nepo baby James Packer. Jones was a conspicuous absence from ADH TV ever since this masthead first reported allegations of groping a year before the criminal charges were laid. Now, the company is struggling to adjust to life after Alan. Alan Jones outside court in 2024. Credit: Rhett Wyman First, its plans to acquire regional TV licences from Southern Cross Austereo fell apart after Seven West Media stepped in. That's left us a little sceptical about the success of ADH's $42 million bid to buy the radio assets of this masthead's owners, Nine. But ADH's most newsworthy ploy is its deal to become an Australian launchpad for American conservative cable TV station Newsmax, a once niche Florida-based broadcaster which has had its influence turbo-charged by Donald Trump's rise. ADH TV has since rebranded its online profile and social media accounts as Newsmax Australia, which the website said in January was 'coming soon'. But so far, nobody seems to know when that is, or what it will look like. Rumours that Newsmax had enlisted former NRL Footy Show host Erin Molan as a flagship presenter turned out to be just that. Molan has since landed a rather bizarre gig hosting an Elon Musk-backed show called 69X Minutes on the platform formerly known as Twitter. Molan is also set to unveil an eponymous show on the Salem Network, a Christian family-themed American broadcaster financially backed by the president's failson, Donald Trump Jr. Which probably takes her out of the running. Erin Molan on the set of 69X Minutes. Credit: Screenshot Presenters at ADH TV who remained hopeful of broadcasting with Newsmax have no sense of when they'll be back on air, if at all. We've heard whispers of an October launch, but little more. Bulfin didn't return our calls. A complicated, and as yet, unsettled situation, it seems, that left CBD wondering whether Newsmax Australia would ever see the light of day. Which to us, is a sad day for Australian media. ADH TV provided a welcome home for so many of the right's has-beens: former Australian Christian Lobby boss Lyle Shelton, arch-monarchist David Flint, twice-rehabilitated News Corp broadcaster Chris Smith and, for some reason, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price's husband.
Saudi Gazette
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
Top Australian soldier loses appeal over war crimes defamation case
SYDNEY — Australia's most-decorated living soldier Ben Roberts-Smith, has lost an appeal against a landmark defamation judgement which found he committed war crimes. A judge in 2023 ruled that news articles alleging the Victoria Cross recipient had murdered four unarmed Afghans were true, but Roberts-Smith had argued the judge made legal errors. The civil trial was the first time in history any court has assessed claims of war crimes by Australian forces. A panel of three Federal Court judges on Friday unanimously upheld the original judgement, though Roberts-Smith has said he will appeal the decision to the High Court of Australia "immediately". "I continue to maintain my innocence and deny these egregious spiteful allegations," he said in a statement. Roberts-Smith, who left the defence force in 2013, has not been charged over any of the claims in a criminal court, where there is a higher burden of former special forces corporal sued three Australian newspapers over a series of articles alleging serious misconduct while he was deployed in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012 as part of a US-led military the time the articles were published in 2018, Roberts-Smith was considered a national hero, having been awarded Australia's highest military honour for single-handedly overpowering Taliban fighters attacking his Special Air Service (SAS) 46-year-old argued the alleged killings occurred legally during combat or did not happen at all, claiming the papers ruined his life with their defamation case - which some have dubbed "the trial of the century" in Australia - lasted over 120 days and is now rumored to have cost up to A$35m ($22.5m; £16.9m).In June 2023 Federal Court Justice Antony Besanko threw out the case against The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, and The Canberra Times, ruling it was "substantially true" that Roberts-Smith had murdered unarmed Afghan prisoners and civilians and bullied fellow also found that Roberts-Smith lied to cover up his misconduct and threatened allegations that he had punched his lover, threatened a peer, and committed two other murders were not proven to the "balance of probabilities" standard required in civil "heart" of the appeal case was that Justice Besanko didn't given enough weight to Roberts-Smith's presumption of innocence, his barrister Bret Walker, SC is a legal principle requiring judges to proceed carefully when dealing with civil cases that involve serious allegations and in making findings which carry grave argued that meant the evidence presented by the newspapers fell short of the standard after the appeal case had closed, Roberts-Smith's legal team earlier this year sought to reopen it, alleging misconduct by one of the reporters at the center of the argued there was a miscarriage of justice because Nick McKenzie, one of the journalists who wrote the articles at the center of the case, allegedly unlawfully obtained details about Roberts-Smith's legal legal team pointed to a leaked phone call between McKenzie and a witness — which The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, and The Canberra Times said may have been recorded on Friday, the trio of judges rejected that argument said "the evidence was sufficiently cogent to support the findings that the appellant murdered four Afghan men"."To the extent that we have discerned error in the reasons of the primary judge, the errors were inconsequential," they also ordered Roberts-Smith to pay the newspapers' legal a statement, McKenzie called the ruling an "emphatic win".He thanked the SAS soldiers who "fought for the Australian public to learn the truth", and paid tribute to the Afghan "victims of [Mr] Roberts-Smith"."It should not be left to journalists and brave soldiers to stand up to a war criminal," he said. "Australian authorities must hold Ben Roberts-Smith accountable before our criminal justice system." — BBC
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Aussie drivers urged to invoke little-known road rule in no fault accidents: 'You're legally entitled'
The average Australian driver travels more than 200 kilometres each week in their vehicle. For those who rely on their car for a daily commute, being involved in a car crash can be one of life's great inconveniences. But if the crash wasn't your fault, there's no reason you should be left without an equally good car while yours is undergoing any repairs. In fact, you're legally entitled to one. "About three in four people aren't aware of their right to drive after they're not at fault in an accident,' says Nicolas Rio, general manager at Right2Drive. "It refers actually to quite an old law — the law of demurrage," he explained, with the term being borrowed from the shipping industry and its application to road accidents has even been upheld in the High Court of Australia. "The law still holds true today... if you've been in an accident and you're not at fault, you're legally entitled to be restored to the position before the accident," Rio told Yahoo News. However, according to the company's research nearly three quarters (74 per cent) of Australian drivers are unaware of such a legally enshrined entitlement. Right2Drive claims since its inception, it has helped some 300,000 drivers with a free car across Australia and New Zealand, with the company then chasing up the insurance provider of the driver who was at fault to cover the costs of the loan car. The company has compiled data on the types of crashes it responds to, revealing the most common trouble spots for motorists. "We've got a very extensive data base of incidents and crashes from our propriety system... that represent non-fatal incidents," Rio said. One of the details from crashes in NSW, for instance, is that drivers are about three times more likely to crash in a car park (14.7 per cent) compared to a roundabout (5.6). There is one useful tip that could help you avoid being liable — reversing into car spots. That's because reversing out into a busy car park can be a common cause of crashes, and the reversing driver will almost always be deemed to be at fault. An Aussie insurance broker previously warned drivers they should reverse into a parking spot because backing out with limited vision could increase the chance they're liable for a fender bender. The Insurance Council of Australia has previously confirmed to Yahoo News Australia the little-known fact, that in most cases the reversing driver is automatically deemed to be the at-fault. But Rio said there are rare cases where that rule doesn't hold. "We definitely have instances where people have been reversing and are not at fault," he said. "If someone opens a car door into a reversing vehicle, they [the reversing car] are not at fault," he said, for example. The NSW focused data also showed rear-end collisions are the most common type of road crash at nearly 34 per cent of accidents, while single-lane roads were the most dangerous spots, accounting for nearly a quarter of crashes, followed by multi-lane roads, car parks, traffic lights, intersections and roundabouts. This week is National Road Safety Week with the annual initiative bringing together government bodies and road safety organisations to address the high costs of road collisions and work to reduce them. Professor Stuart Newstead, Director of the Monash University Accident Research Centre, on Monday highlighted the boon that has come from increased safety features and technology from car manufacturers. 🚘 New camera trial to target drivers breaching road rule in 'real-time' 🔋 Big shift on Aussie roads as electric car market hits 'major milestone' 🚦 Little-known traffic light hack to hit coveted 'green wave' "Vehicle safety improvements have played a major role in reducing road trauma over the past 50 years. Safer vehicles not only protect occupants during crashes but increasingly help prevent crashes altogether," he said. "However, there is still significant opportunity to reduce road trauma by encouraging safer vehicle choices, especially among younger and older drivers," he added. Earlier this year, Yahoo highlighted research that showed young drivers can be overrepresented in road fatalities, in part because they are more likely to purchase older, less safe vehicles. Budget-conscious young drivers often prioritise affordability over safety features, leading them to purchase cars with outdated braking systems, lower crash safety ratings, and worn-out components. "A key focus during National Road Safety Week should be how we can unlock this remaining potential [of vehicle improvements] to save lives," Prof Stuart said. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
