Rio Tinto's walkout

👋 G’day

Today’s brief:

• Rio Tinto’s smelter dispute deepens with strike.

• US law firms dominate pay satisfaction in an eye-watering survey.

• Musk and Altman escalate AI feud.

Here’s the latest to keep you in the know 👇

PRACTICE POINTS

The ACCC’s sweep

• A fresh sweep of 2,000 websites by ACCC reveals some businesses are using terms and conditions that could be in violation of Australian Consumer Law. Koala Living was fined $56k for misleading refund policies, while Mazda copped a $11.5m penalty for denying customer rights: The Australian

• The Full Federal Court has backed ASIC in its appeal against Noumi’s ex-CEO Rory Macleod, ruling that providing documents under a Voluntary Disclosure Agreement doesn’t automatically waive legal professional privilege. ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said: ‘We expect this decision will remove uncertainty for parties considering whether to enter into such agreements with ASIC in the future’: ASIC

• A reminder of the woes of litigation - take it away, Justice Sackar:
  “Litigation is a serious business with serious consequences ... for winners and losers, alike. Rarely does even a successful party recoup its legal expenses, whether or not indemnity costs are awarded. Indeed, every experienced litigator learns early in their career costs consequences must always be factored into the legal landscape of any piece of litigation": Seven Network (Operations) Ltd v Harrison [2017] NSWSC 952 at [62].

WORD ON THE STREET

US firms dominate pay satisfaction

• Staff at top US firms like Paul Weiss and Kirkland & Ellis are stoked with their paychecks, according to a RollOnFriday survey. One lawyer even pointed out, “I get paid the same as an FTSE 250 CFO”—wouldn’t that be nice? Meanwhile, Debevoise & Plimpton lawyers are loving the bonus structure – no billable hours requirement, and it’s lock-step by class year, so no issues with favouritism. Bring on US-style pay in Aus.

• Kristina Mihalic, a former HWLE partner and seasoned public law adviser, has been poached by NRF. Known for advising Commonwealth and government ministers, she has played a key role in numerous public inquiries and Royal Commissions: Lawyerly

• The Crisafulli government has appointed Queensland's first-ever reserve judges to the Supreme Court: the Honourable Robert Gotterson AO KC and the Honourable Philip Morrison KC, aiming to alleviate the court’s growing workload: Lawyers Weekly

• The AFP’s probe into PwC Australia’s misuse of confidential tax info has barely moved, with just three documents gathered nearly two years after the issue first came to light. A FOI search revealed the AFP holds these documents related to Operation Alesia, which is investigating whether PwC partners violated the Crimes Act by leaking government tax information. But the AFP won’t release them, citing concerns it could harm the investigation: The Australian

TALKING POINTS

Our HECS shackles

• Good news for anyone with a HECS debt – buying a house just got a bit easier. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has announced that banks can now exclude HECS repayments from mortgage serviceability tests, as long as they expect the debt to be paid off soon. Someone earning $150k a year will see their borrowing capacity rise by $90k to $130k under the new rules: AFR

• Trump’s back with another executive order, this time loosening anti-bribery rules. On Monday, he signed an order directing the Justice Department to pause prosecutions of Americans accused of bribing foreign officials to win or retain business. "It’s going to mean a lot more business for America", Trump told reporters: Reuters

• The legal profession, including barristers, is grappling with high rates of depression, anxiety, and stress, often exacerbated by seclusion, self-employment pressures, and unpredictable income. Many turn to alcohol to cope, with research showing widespread problem drinking. And suicide rates among barristers remain a critical issue, underscoring the urgent need for mental health support in the profession: Lawyers Weekly

• Justified or double standard? Asks the AFR following the news of Sam Kerr’s not guilty verdict of racially abusing a police officer. The Socceroos star called the officer a “f---ing stupid and white” after a chaotic night in London. Kerr says she wants to ‘put this challenging period behind me’. But her Matildas captaincy may still be in jeopardy, along with $3m left on the table: Yahoo News

TREASURY

DEAL ROOM

Funds fuel green energy

• Global investment in low-carbon energy hit a record $2.1tn last year, up 11%. While growth slowed compared to the previous three years (24-29%), China remained the biggest market for investment: Bloomberg

• Superhero, the Aussie share trading app, is stepping up its game with the launch of its own super admin business, Jarvis, a nod to Tony Stark's AI. It’s raising $3m to bring this idea to life. The funds will go toward finalising the product, scaling operations, and tapping into revenue opportunities: AFR

• Pacific Equity Partners is close to sealing an $800m debt package to fund its $1.4bn acquisition of SG Fleet, with backing from CBA, Westpac, Citi, and Barclays. The deal not only shows confidence in PEP’s strategy but also signals strong bank interest in public M&A funding: AFR

• KKR’s $2.2bn bid for Perpetual has been on ice since December, thanks to a hefty tax bill. But it looks like both parties are ready to give the deal another shot. Perpetual’s board is now mulling over a rejigged proposal as the company grapples with mounting debt and talent loss: AFR

SECTOR SPECIFIC

500 Rio workers walk off job

🚜 DIGGERS

• Over 500 workers at the Tomago Smelter, one of Australia’s largest aluminium plants, are set to walk off the job today. Rio Tinto, which owns about 51 per cent of Tomago, is deeply frustrated with the dispute. Australian Workers Union members began the stop-work action after reaching a stalemate over a new pay deal: The Australian

• Trump stated there would be "no exceptions or exemptions" on aluminium and steel tariffs. But at the same time, he praised Albo for being a good bloke and said he would give “great consideration” to exempting Australia. Apparently, Australia wasn't exempted from the outset because the US accused Australia of breaking a "verbal commitment" to limit aluminium exports during Turnbull’s tenure: ABC, SBS, Guardian

• St Barbara intends to separate its Atlantic Gold operations following a portfolio review. The gold miner is considering various options for the split, including a sale, vend-in or demerger into a separate Canadian listed company.

• Bad news for fossil fuels: The Greens are making it clear that, if there's a hung parliament after the next election, they'll use every bit of power they have to cut taxpayer support for the coal and gas industry: The Australian

🏦 FIN

• Regional banking is here to stay. The Aussie government and major banks have struck a deal to boost regional banking services, including a freeze on regional branch closures until 2027: AFR

• CBA CEO Matt Comyn warned that Australia’s economic conditions are still fragile, with weak private sector growth, slowing immigration, and ongoing geopolitical uncertainties. The bank did post a cash profit of over ~A$5bn for the six months to December 2024 (up 2%), hitting analyst’s expectations. Home loans grew by 3%, business loans by 8%, helping boost operating income by 3.3% to $14.1bn: Bloomberg

🏡 RETAIL & REAL ESTATE

• Labor says it could step in to buy collapsed airline Rex if no willing bidder emerges by mid-year. Taxpayers might be on the hook for hundreds of millions to replace the airline’s ageing 40-year-old fleet: AFR

• Star Entertainment is weighing options to raise equity and secure its future, with Barrenjoey evaluating whether a raise makes sense amid the casino’s growing uncertainty. And you’d think a company that is $400m in debt would be trimming its workforce. But no – Star’s got at least 100 open roles listed on its website, with some ads looking to hire multiple people at once. Hmm? Guess the HR department’s got more faith in the company’s survival than its debtors do: The Australian, AFR

📱 TECH

• Tesla chairwoman Robyn Denholm warns that Australia must increase its R&D spending by $25.4bn annually to match global standards. R&D investment as a proportion of Australia’s GDP stands at 1.66%, below the OECD average of 2.73% and the 3% spent by US, Japan and Germany: AFR

• Altman and Musk’s feud continues. A consortium led by Elon Musk offered US$97.4bn to buy the nonprofit controlling OpenAI, intensifying his ongoing battle to prevent the AI startup from becoming for-profit. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman quickly responded on X: "no thank you but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want". OpenAI director Larry Summers told Bloomberg he had not received “any formal communication” from Musk. Now Altman has labelled Musk as ‘insecure’, while Musk prefers the phrase ‘Scam Altman’: Reuters, AFR

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