Shock sexsomnia verdict

👋 G’day

Today’s brief:

• A Sydney man diagnosed with sexsomnia has been found not guilty of rape.

• HWL Ebsworth wins partner expulsion case on appeal.

• ACCC turns up the heat on Mastercard, with delays hurting trial prospects.

Here’s the latest to close out your week 👇

PRACTICE POINTS

WA’s EPA fight

• Enviro Minister Tanya Plibersek is rallying the troops for a last-ditch effort to establish a federal Environmental Protection Agency, but WA Premier Roger Cook isn’t having it. He’s lobbying hard to block the reform, warning it’ll hurt WA and the country. Critics say it’s just more environmental red tape that could bog down key projects. “If it’s not good for WA, I’m against it,” says Cook. You tell ’em, Roge.

• The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations just dropped a review recommending to the government that if employees win an underpayment case (which could be up to $100k), businesses should foot their legal bills. But if the employee loses, each side should bear their own costs. Employers aren’t happy, arguing this could pile pressure on small businesses to capitulate questionable claims.

• Starting 1 July 2025, the super guarantee rate will hit 12%, marking the final leg of those scheduled increases. But that's not all—come 1 July 2026, 'Payday Super' kicks in. Employers will have to pay super at the same time they pay wages, instead of waiting for the quarterly deadline.

WORD ON THE STREET

HWLE wins partner firing dispute

• NSW Court of Appeal just gave a big win to HWL Ebsworth, overturning a ruling that had deemed their 2020 expulsion of partner Gregory Lewis invalid. Justice Michael Elkaim had previously ruled the expulsion invalid, citing no notice or reasons given. But the Appeal Court slapped that down, pointing out that the partnership rules don’t actually require a justification for ousting a partner.

• The plaintiffs in a Lendlease shareholder class action just learned the hard way that court deadlines aren’t optional. Their request for more discovery? Denied. The judge called out their timeline blunders as “the antithesis of how a party is expected to conduct litigation”. Brutal.

• Rural publisher Riverine Grazier is leading a class action against Google, set to hit the Federal Court before 14 February. The lawsuit, backed by Maurice Blackburn and Phi Finney McDonald, targets Google’s ad tech dominance—marking a major legal showdown.

• The ACCC’s market power lawsuit against Mastercard is on shaky ground, with document delays threatening an already postponed trial. ACCC barrister James Arnott SC didn’t hold back: “We say Mastercard should simply work harder.” If the trial drags further, the regulator is eyeing a hefty cost order against the payments giant.

TALKING POINTS

Shock sexsomnia acquittal

• A Sydney man has been found not guilty of rape, after claiming he was experiencing ‘sexsomnia’—a condition causing sexual behaviour during sleep. Timothy Rowland argued he was unconscious during the alleged assault in August 2022. The jury returned its verdict after a seven-day trial, following questions to the judge about criminal responsibility while unconscious.

• The federal government raked in just $9.7bn from tobacco excise last financial year, a 40% drop from 2019-20. Since 2013, Labor and Coalition governments have hiked the excise by 282%, driving the cost of a 25-pack of smokes to around $50—$34, which lands in the government’s pocket. Economists warn the increases are backfiring, pushing smokers to the black market rather than kicking the habit.

• A lawyer whose harassment claims led to the 2022 dismissal of SA magistrate Simon Milazzo says sexual harassment is still rampant in the legal profession. A new review by SA’s Equal Opportunity Commissioner found the sector is stuck in a culture of “denial, threat, intimidation, and incivility.” Over half of 600 surveyed legal professionals reported experiencing harassment, discrimination, or bullying in the past 3 years.

• With Trump’s executive orders causing legal mayhem, BigLaw firms are rolling out "Trump Trackers". The searchable tools provide real-time updates and deep dives into the administration’s latest moves—because keeping up with the White House just became a full-time job.

TREASURY

DEAL ROOM

Data centre frenzy

• 2024 was a bumper year for data centre M&A, with Synergy Research Group’s latest update now showing the total deal value has skyrocketed to over US$73bn (A$117bn). A key driver of this surge was the Airtrunk/Blackstone acquisition, valued at nearly US$16bn (A$24bn), making it the largest-ever data centre deal.

• Capricorn Metals expands its gold play in WA, snapping up the Mummaloo project next to its Mount Gibson development. The move boosts its growth pipeline as it pushes ahead with production plans.

• Zenith Energy, the $2bn remote power provider to WA’s mining heavyweights, is officially asking interested buyers to submit their offers by next Friday. APA bowed out before Christmas, leaving the field open for deep-pocketed contenders like KKR and Swedish firm EQT.

• Sojitz Corporation is making moves down under, striking a deal to acquire 70% of Sydney’s Climatech Group. The HVAC firm, known for keeping iconic buildings like Quay Quarter Tower and Centre Point Tower cool, is now part of Sojitz’s Aussie HVAC arm, Ellis Air.

• Renault, with its 36% stake in Nissan, is pushing the automaker to negotiate a higher premium, hoping to cash in on a potential Honda-Nissan merger.

SECTOR SPECIFIC

Lovisa faces overtime class action

🚜 DIGGERS

• MinRes’ debt has surged to $5.1bn, up $700m in just 6 months. The lithium and iron ore miner blames the high building costs of its $2.6bn Onslow hub in the Pilbara, while sagging commodity prices and an ASIC governance probe pile on the pressure. But MinRes remains confident, saying it will generate “significant cash” by the end of the year from Onslow.

• In more bad news for miners, IGO reported an underlying loss of $79m for the December quarter—way down from the $2.9m loss last quarter. Its major customers have scaled back the amount they want to buy as demand for batteries dries up.

🏦 FIN

• Amazon’s getting creative with payments, teaming up with NAB to bypass credit card fees. The new "PayTo" option lets Aussie customers pay directly from their bank account at checkout, cutting out Visa and Mastercard’s hefty merchant fees.

• NAB is tossing up opening branches on Sundays, a move that would make it the first major bank to do so in decades. While CBA and ANZ have dabbled in Sunday trading before, NAB’s decision could shake up weekend banking for good.

🏡 RETAIL & REAL ESTATE

• Lovisa’s has been hit with an employee class action over unpaid overtime. The jewellery chain is accused of pushing staff to skip breaks and clock in extra hours without extra pay and sending female staff home without pay when they wore the wrong type of shoes.

• RAM is betting big on private hospitals, despite the financial challenges facing major players like Healthscope. RAM is shifting the focus to healthcare with an 80:20 split—moving away from convenience malls. The fund manager argues the health sector still offers “wonderful fundamentals” and solid returns of 7%+.

• New Zealand house prices dipped just 0.1% in January, a much smaller drop than in previous months. With interest rates easing, the market may be creeping toward recovery.

📱 TECH

• Back in '21, Trump sued the social media giant Meta and Mark Zuckerberg in 2021 after his Facebook and Instagram accounts were suspended following the January 6 Capitol riots. Meta eventually lifted the restrictions on his account in 2023. Now, Meta has agreed to pay Trump $25m to settle the censorship dispute.

• Telstra’s been hit with a $394k penalty for dropping the ball on its obligation to check internet speeds when migrating customers to the NBN, failing to conduct more than 3800 tests.

• SoftBank is reportedly in talks to pump US$25bn into OpenAI, which would push the AI giant’s valuation to US$340bn. Big bet, bigger numbers.

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