Federal Government announces detailed timetable on emissions trading – Wong
18 March 2008
Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, has announced the Australian Government's detailed timetable for introduction of emissions trading, commencing with preliminary consultation on technical issues with industry and non-government groups.   more...

We lack the expertise to handle the Murray admits federal minister
26 March 2008
“The Commonwealth should control the Murray-Darling Basin but lacks the expertise to do so”, federal Infrastructure Minister, Anthony Albanese, says. more...

Blue Wedges fail to halt channel deepening
28 March 2008
The Blue Wedges environment group has failed in its Federal Court challenge to channel deepening in Port Phillip Bay.  Justice Tony North found that the group had not established that Federal Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, failed to follow the law when allowing the project.   more...

5 major infrastructure companies as the SUREWATER consortium
27 March 2008
The Plenary Group, Acciona Agua, United Utilities, McConnell Dowell, Abigroup, have become the first consortium to announce they will bid for Victoria's $3.1 billion desalination plant, the state's biggest public-private partnership and the nation's largest plant, as rising interest rates are expected to push up the cost of projects.   more...

Act of good faith for those with plenty
24 March 2008
In 2001, the Howard government sold Essendon Airport to Linfox and Becton groups for $22 million. To make the wholesale sell-off of all federally owned airports more palatable to a sceptical electorate, the 1996 legislation by the Keating government made the land transfer leasehold rather than freehold and required the private owners to produce a development master plan every 5 years, which would be made public and subject to federal approval. The master plan can be seen as a regular environmental impact statement if it was undertaken in good faith. Based on land use restrictions at the time of the sale, and which should be still in place now, the fair compensation required for the Government to resume the land should not be much more than $22 million and certainly only a fraction of what it is worth now as a redevelopment site. more...

Infrastructure levy sneaks back on agenda
22 March 2008
Victorian developers are in limbo about an infrastructure levy they say could add up to $5,000 a block to the cost of housing. The proposed levy, first announced in 2005, has been quietly resurrected amid the State Government's celebrated decision to "fast track" farmland for housing in the name of reducing housing costs. A residential development executive, who declined to be named, said the industry was in "no man's land" about infrastructure costs.   more...

Builder shortage hits Brumby plan
24 March 2008
Premier, John Brumby, earlier this month rezoned land to support 90,000 new home sites, but Master Builders executive director, Brian Welch, said “the dearth of workers could imperil the Government's expansion plans for the state”. But Victoria’s construction industry needs more than 40,000 new workers if it is to give form to the state's building plans, but competition from other states is making labour harder to find.   more...

Hospital bail-out unlikely: agency
26 March 2008
Credit ratings agency, Standard & Poor's, says “it is unlikely taxpayers will have to bail out the $1 billion Royal Children's Hospital development if the project becomes a victim of the global credit crisis”. A consortium of Babcock & Brown, Lend Lease and Spotless has been awarded the $946 million contract to build the new Royal Children's Hospital in a public-private partnership with the Brumby Government. S&P director, Ian Greer, said “taxpayers should be shielded from any extra costs”. He says “that in all PPP projects, if the project is not working, the government reserves the right to kick out the party and replace them and if the project fails you will probably get a high recovery anyway”.   more...

Carbon Offsets Guide helps consumers go green
26 March 2008
The Environment and Climate Change Minister, Gavin Jennings, said “the first update of the Carbon Offsets Guide, shows the market continues to grow, with the comprehensive on-line directory, www.carbonoffsetguide.com.au, shows a 13% growth over its first 3 months with 36 providers now listed in the directory. The Guide, developed by Global Sustainability at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in partnership with Environment Protection Authority (EPA), reveals that more than 16.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents worth in excess of $45.9 million were traded by Australian offset providers in 2006/07.   more...

Blue Wedges Inc v Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts [2008] FCA 399

Blue Wedges Inc challenged the decision of the Minister for Environment, Heritage and the Arts under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) to approve the Port Phillip Bay channel deepening project, and sought orders that the decision be set aside. The applicant has failed to establish the grounds relied upon to challenge the Minister’s decision to approve the channel deepening project. The application must therefore be dismissed. - Court has a limited function. It can only consider challenges to the process by which the Minister made his decision and determine whether the Minister acted in accordance with the law. In this case, the Court has determined that the arguments raised by the applicant in that regard cannot be sustained.

Rockcote Enterprises Pty Ltd v FS Architects Pty Ltd; Carelli v FS Architects Pty Ltd [2008] NSWCA 39

Contracts, general contractual principles, whether contractual relations between appellants and respondents, whether collateral contract entered into on appellant’s behalf by its agent, whether a party acting as agent of the appellant in a limited sense has authority to enter into contracts on behalf of the respondent, whether contractual warranties made, whether contractual warranties breached, trade practices, whether false, misleading and deceptive representations made by appellant or an agent of the appellant to the respondents, whether respondents discharged onus of proof in respect of inaccuracy of representations, whether proof of damage, s 42, s 44 and s 50 Fair Trading Act 1987, s 52, s 53 and s 55 Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth).

Barrett Property Group Pty Ltd v Carlisle Homes Pty Ltd [2008] FCA 375

Copyright - alleged copyright in substantial part of house plans and built houses - al fresco quadrant

- subsistence of copyright - whether "logical development" of existing plans of third party - whether substantial part - whether actual copying - significance of lies as to derivation of respondent’s design - whether sufficient similarity. Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) ss 14(1), 31(1)(b)(i), Evidence Act 1995 (Cth) s 55(1).

Protec Pacific Pty Ltd v Cherry [2008] VSC 76

Practice and procedure - expert witness - legal professional privilege - confidentiality of instructions - contractual obligation to keep information confidential - whether expert witness in possession of privileged or confidential information - whether privilege or confidentiality waived by serving of expert witness statement pursuant to court order - whether expert witness able to speak to lawyers for opposing party about his reports and reports of other experts - whether there was real and sensible possibility of the misuse of privileged or confidential information - opposing party free to call expert witness at trial.  Injunction - interlocutory injunction - likely to be final in effect - degree of likelihood of success at trial - balance of convenience. Dispute concerned work carried out by Protec in connection with the supply and installation of high density polyethylene (“HDPE”) lining material to process tanks at WMC’s Olympic Dam mine in 1998 and 1999.