Mastodawn

‘Independent’ group Energy for Australians that ran anti-Labor ads received more than $1m from coal lobby https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/apr/19/energy-for-australians-accepted-1m-coal-australia-independent-claims
Coal Australia denies its donations to the ‘community-driven association’ amount to astroturfing, but critics accuse the group of misleading the public
#auspol #auslaw #greenwashing #astroturfing #donations #lobbying #influence

‘Independent’ group Energy for Australians that ran anti-Labor ads received more than $1m from coal lobby

Coal Australia denies its donations to the ‘community-driven association’ amount to astroturfing, but critics accuse the group of misleading the public

The Guardian

Matthew Rimmer 1d ago

US Live Nation and Ticketmaster verdict triggers calls for Australian investigation into ticketing rules https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/apr/18/us-live-nation-and-ticketmaster-verdict-triggers-calls-for-australian-investigation-into-ticketing-rules
One insider estimates Australians pay A$10 in fees per ticket, with fans bearing the burden of monopolised music tour schedules and inflated artist values
#competition #uslaw #uspol #antitrust #auslaw #auspol

US Live Nation and Ticketmaster verdict triggers calls for Australian investigation into ticketing rules

One insider estimates Australians pay A$10 in fees per ticket, with fans bearing the burden of monopolised music tour schedules and inflated artist values

The Guardian

Matthew Rimmer 3d ago

Bundjalung elder's mission to find breastplate stolen from Lismore Museum
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-14/calls-to-bring-aboriginal-bundjalung-artefact-home/105758992
#IndigenousIP #repatriation #auslaw

Aboriginal elder's mission to get stolen artefact back after 70 years

An Aboriginal breastplate given to Jack Kapeen in 1865 disappeared from a Lismore museum about 100 years later, only to be sold at auction in 2011.

Matthew Rimmer 3d ago

NSW’s highest court strikes down anti-protest law introduced in wake of Bondi beach terror attack https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/apr/16/nsws-highest-court-strikes-down-anti-protest-law-introduced-in-wake-of-bondi-beach-terror-attack-ntwnfb
Court finds law – which effectively meant protesters could not march without risk of arrest – is unconstitutional. #nswpol #auslaw

NSW’s highest court strikes down anti-protest law introduced in wake of Bondi beach terror attack

Court finds law – which effectively meant protesters could not march without risk of arrest – is unconstitutional

The Guardian

Matthew Rimmer 3d ago

Australian federal court issues warning to lawyers over 'unacceptable' use of AI. https://www.theguardian.com/law/2026/apr/16/australia-federal-court-warning-lawyers-ai-artificial-intelligence?CMP=share_btn_url #ai #auslaw #auspol

Australian federal court warns lawyers over ‘unacceptable’ use of AI

New guidance to legal profession ‘embraces’ use of technology but flags penalties for lawyers who ‘mislead the court’ with AI-generated errors

The Guardian

Matthew Rimmer 5d ago

Landmark case on academic cheating results in $500,000 fine

https://www.smh.com.au/national/study-company-helping-australian-university-students-cheat-sued-in-landmark-court-case-20260408-p5zm3t.html

Providing a cheating service to Australian university students has cost study support business Chegg half a million dollars plus legal fees.

#auslaw #auspol #education

Study company helping Australian university students cheat sued in landmark court case

Providing a cheating service to Australian university students has cost study support business Chegg half a million dollars plus legal fees.

The Sydney Morning Herald

Matthew Rimmer Apr 11

'APYACC says it suffered a significant financial loss as a result of The Australian’s reporting, including a downturn in sales. And while their state funding was reinstated last year, the collective believes their expulsion from the Indigenous Art Code, as a result of the allegations, has adversely affected their federal funding applications in the years since.

In a defamation suit lodged with South Australia’s supreme court, the collective is suing Nationwide News, publisher of The Australian newspaper, for $4.4m: a figure that includes the loss of the NGA sale, which they put at $1,397,000, and their lost federal funding, which they estimated at $1.07m.' https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/ng-interactive/2026/apr/11/apy-lands-indigenous-australian-art-exhibition-nga-ngura-pulka-lawsuit #IndigenousIP #defamation #auslaw #auspol #art #media

After three years, investigations and now a $4.4m lawsuit, Australia’s most controversial art exhibition finally opens

Ngura Puḻka at the National Gallery of Australia is a landmark exhibition of 30 paintings by Indigenous artists in the APY Arts Centre Collective, which was investigated over claims white workers had interfered with black art

The Guardian

Matthew Rimmer Apr 10

'Malek Alhmedai has pleaded guilty to dealing with millions of dollars from illegal tobacco sales in QLD. The 51-year-old had been driving a hire car that was stopped near Newcastle, with police finding $4 million stashed inside. Alhmedai is due to be sentenced in July.'

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-10/man-guilty-over-illegal-tobacco-cash-haul/106551620 #tobacco #enforcement #auslaw #auspol

Man pleads guilty to dealing with millions of dollars from illegal tobacco

Malek Alhmedai's hire car had $4 million stashed inside, with the money linked to illegal tobacco sales.

Matthew Rimmer Apr 9

Great to discuss the United States case of Thaler v. Perlmutter about copyright law, art, and artificial intelligence at the University of Canberra Canberra Law School UC Faculty of Business, Government and Law with business experts Uwe Dulleck Prof. Rebekah Russell-Bennett and legal scholars Maree Sainsbury and Janet Hope https://www.scotusblog.com/cases/case-files/thaler-v-perlmutter/ #copyright #AI #art #authorship #USlaw #USpol Interesting to hear the spectrum of legal, ethical, aesthetic, and business views about the AI art work, 'A Recent Entrance to Paradise.' See also the ongoing debates about copyright and AI in #auslaw #auspol

Matthew Rimmer Apr 7

The Albanese Government has passed important reforms providing Australians greater legal certainty when using ‘orphan works’ (copyright material where the copyright owner is unknown or unlocatable). https://ministers.ag.gov.au/media-centre/important-reforms-australias-copyright-framework-pass-parliament-01-04-2026 #auslaw #auspol #copyright #orphanworks These reforms are a long time coming - we were debating this topic back in 2004 during the discussion over the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement (#AUSFTA) and the copyright term extension.