Federal court strikes down key part of Coalition’s crackdown on class action funding

Labor says decision called into question the legal basis for former government’s ‘absurd attempt to regulate funded class actions out of existence’

The federal court has removed a barrier to class actions imposed by the former Coalition government, a decision the new attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, has welcomed as a “victory for ordinary Australians” seeking to pursue justice against big corporations or governments.

In 2020, the former government imposed a costly regulatory burden on litigation funders – entities that bankroll notoriously expensive class actions – to define them as managed investment schemes.

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Gladys Liu accused of failing to declare $40,000 donation to Liberal party

Labor renews calls for embattled MP to explain alleged links to Chinese Communist party

Labor has renewed calls for Liberal MP Gladys Liu to explain links to Chinese associations despite Scott Morrison labelling the tactic “grubby”.

On Friday the controversy around the member for Chisholm grew after the Herald Sun reported that Liu had failed to file a return declaring a $39,675 donation to the Victorian Liberal party in 2015-16.

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Lawyers given just 36 hours to respond to Dutton’s child sex offender register plan

Law Council president Arthur Moses says legal profession would be very troubled if proposal is rushed for political purposes

The government has allowed Australia’s peak legal body just 36 hours to respond to its public child sex offender register proposal, a move the Law Council has labelled “absurd”.

Peter Dutton announced on Wednesday the government was considering establishing a register which could include the postcode, name and photo of child sex offenders. Reaction was mixed, but Dutton said the government would be asking for the views of a wide range of stakeholders, including child advocacy groups and legal representatives.

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