February
Clive Palmer plans to bombard voters despite High Court defeat
The mining magnate will not be able to support candidates under the United Australia Party banner but still plans to bankroll “independent” Senate campaigns.
High Court decides no judge can be sued, even for false imprisonment
In a unanimous ruling, the peak court said controversial Federal Circuit Court judge Salvatore Vasta should not be personally liable for wrongly jailing a man.
High Court win for law firm over billionaire’s private company
Atanaskovic Hartnell closed off a second near decade-long legal battle in a matter of months, ahead of a busy year for the High Court.
January
Diplomats, campaigners and Paralympians honoured
AFL legend Neale Daniher was awarded Australian of the year 2025 on Saturday night after uniting the nation in the fight against motor neurone disease.
December 2024
Union warns it might back Greens as CFMEU goes to the High Court
Electrical Trades Union national secretary Michael Wright said the Greens had been on “the right side of history” on union issues.
November 2024
Campaign finance laws could reduce not increase political competition
The community independents are right that this legislation is too important to be rushed through parliament in the final two sitting weeks.
Labor scrambles for new laws after High Court ruling on detainees
The opposition says the court’s ruling that ankle bracelets and curfews are unconstitutional was an “embarrassing loss” for the Albanese government, which is rushing to introduce new legislation.
High Court judge warns of world’s ‘slide towards autocracy’
Elsewhere, voting closes today in Victorian Bar Council elections, and Justice Ian Jackman continues on his anti-direct speech crusade.
October 2024
Qantas faces $100m-plus hit for illegal sackings
The case is shaping up as the biggest industrial relations loss in Australia’s history.
September 2024
Sacked CFMEU leader goes to High Court to fight takeover
The CFMEU’s ousted leadership has sworn to keep fighting for years just as other unions disband branches or threaten administration over misconduct claims.
August 2024
High Court asks: If a judge punched a lawyer, could anyone be sued?
The question of what a judge has to do in order to be sued was at the heart of a High Court hearing that pondered a $300,000 payout against a judge for wrongly jailing a family law litigant.
CFMEU mulls High Court challenge, employers also face scrutiny
CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith is not ruling out a High Court challenge to legislation forcing the union’s construction divisions into administration.
July 2024
The High Court’s youngest judge is its new contrarian
James Edelman was once mistaken for a drinks waiter by a fellow judge at a cocktail party, now he’s arguably the High Court’s most interesting justice.
June 2024
The man who made ‘saintly’ judge lose his cool
A biography of Sir Gerard Brennan reveals the family man who will be remembered for his Mabo judgment.
How the High Court ‘stunned’ Eddie Mabo’s lawyers and saved the case
Three decades later, members of Mabo case’s legal team reflect on the moment that turned their approach to the historic land rights case.
Mabo hasn’t closed the gap, even in the Pilbara
Two of the lawyers behind the landmark claim by land rights activist Eddie Mabo say native title “hasn’t spread the wealth evenly”.
May 2024
Judge chides critics who want to ‘regulate class actions out of existence’
The newest member of the High Court, Justice Robert Beech-Jones, also gave qualified support to competition between courts.
PM’s pension now in the hands of Stephen Jones
Five still-serving Labor parliamentarians will have their pension schemes tweaked by the financial services minister. As will all the nation’s senior judges.
High Court hands Labor rare win on immigration detention
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles welcomed the ruling in the case of the man known as ASF17, who says he would face persecution if he was sent back to Iran.
No more gaming the system, says High Court
The High Court has sent a clear message: those “manipulating the system” won’t be rewarded with a get-out-of-detention free card.