Federal Government has announced a $40 million funding package for bikeways around the country. The joint launch of the program with the Australian Greens will see funding matched by local governments nationwide (14 October 2009)

 

Australia's Treasury boss Ken Henry, reviewing Australia's tax system, has suggested Australian states consider the idea to break the shackles of congestion costs. According to forecasts, Brisbane is set to lose $3 billion a year as a direct result of traffic congestion by 2020, engineering consultancy Infrastructure Partnerships Australia has found (16 October 2009)

 

Queensland residents are being warned of retailers cashing in on people's fears with what could be useless fire shelters. The ACCC has contacted Victorian retailers which claimed shelters they sell conform to Australian standards despite the fact there are currently no Australian standards for bushfire shelters. The CEO of Australian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council said she expected it would be six months or more before a national building code was set (15 October 2009)

 

The State Government will bear patronage risk for the $1.8 billion rapid transit system in a new offer aimed at attracting a private partner to build the light-rail project. Following Brisbane's Airport Train lemon and the fallout from the global financial crisis, the Government hopes to form a public-private partnership (PPP) by cutting down risk (15 October 2009)

 

Julia GillardThe Minister for Education, Julia Gillard has announced that twenty-one Australian universities will share in $71.5 million to improve teaching and research facilities for students. The projects of up to $5 million will improve vital teaching and learning facilities and allow for the expansion of curriculum in important subject areas (14 October 2009)

 

A quarry company accused of illegally removing millions of dollars of rock from public land on Brisbane's bayside has lost a court battle to expand its operations. The company today lost its appeal against a Planning and Environment Court ruling that its development application to Redland Shire Council was invalid as the company had failed to seek approval from the State Government to include in its development the use of public land an unformed road (16 October 2009)

 

The Lockyer Valley Mayor says there is a chance of an appeal against council's refusal to approve a gas-fired power station on a number of planning grounds. The privately-owned company, National Power, applied to build a multi-million dollar power station connected to a 145 kilometre gas pipeline through prime agricultural land near Laidley (14 October 2009)

 

The Friends of Felton has called on the Toowoomba Regional Council to “show some leadership” and do more to protect the region’s agricultural land from mining. Council’s Environmental and Community portfolio spokesman Bill Cahill said council was a stakeholder in the State Government decision-making process, which was over and above the council’s integrated planning act (19 October 2009)

 

The director of the Gold Coast Rapid Transit Project says the organisation is nearly ready to call for expressions of interest from private firms keen to help finance, design and operate the city's light rail system. The project team will provide the market with documentation setting out the requirements for a public-private partnership (15 October 2009)

 

A Queensland energy company says it is planning an initial investment of $1.5 billion in a major coal seam gas venture in the Surat Basin in the state's south which includes a pipeline between the Surat Basin and Gladstone. Arrow Energy says it has started a voluntary environmental impact statement for its Surat Gas Project, which includes exploration, development and production (15 October 2009)

 

The Federal Government has suspended its solar schools program for the rest of this year. The scheme offers schools up to $50,000 to install solar power, rainwater tanks or other energy efficiency measures. The Government says demand has been very high and it has received enough claims to meet the program's full budget (15 October 2009)

 

The Federal Opposition says the Government should force the states to publicly detail the number of complaints they have received about school building projects. The Federal Government says it has received fewer than 60 complaints about its $16 billion school stimulus program, but its records do not include complaints made to the states and territories that administer the scheme (15 October 2009)

 

Federal Environment and Heritage Minister Peter Garrett has announced $3.8 million in funding for 10 projects in Queensland as part of a major economic stimulus push through heritage conservation. The projects will be funded under the Australian Government's $650 million Jobs Fund, and will create 153 jobs in the state (14 October 2009)

 

According to the ABS, a weakness in new residential work done over the June quarter was primarily reflected in Queensland where activity fell by 13.6 percent (14 October 2009)

 

The Rudd Government will rewrite the 21-year-old Privacy Act for the technology age, ending the fragmentation of state laws and streamlining the rules to apply to both private and public sectors (14 October 2009)

 

A new Wooloowin construction site for the Airport Link Project has been approved subject to strict conditions by the Coordinator-General (12 October 2009)

 

Canberra signs off on new multi-billion dollar mines which will invest in new rail and port facilities (15 October 2009)

 

Tenderers for the contract to build the Sydney metro deny claims of a $2 billion cost blowout, the NSW government authority in charge of the project says. Construction consortia tendering for the project believe the cost of the twin tunnels will be higher due to difficulties involved in tunnelling under Sydney harbour (16 October 2009)

 

Nation Building Program (National Land Transport) Act 2009 - Determination of the Nation Building Program Roads to Recovery List pursuant to section 87 of the Act - Instrument No. 2009/1 F2009C01010 – Infrastructure - Incorporating amendments to Variation of Nation Building Program Roads to Recovery List - Instrument No. 2009/3 Date: 15 October 2009

 

Current Reprints
Building Regulation 2006 No.4
Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Regulation 2004 No.4
Plumbing and Drainage Regulation 2003 No.3
State Development and Public Works Organisation (State Development Areas) Regulation 2009 No.1A
State Penalties Enforcement Regulation 2000 No.9F
Water Resource (Cooper Creek) Plan 2000 No.2
Regulations
Local Government Legislation Amendment Regulation (No. 2) (SL No 221 of 2009)
Environmental Protection and Other Legislation Amendment (Postponement) Regulation (SL No 227 of 2009)

 

Practice and procedure – Costs – Order against non-party – Where non-party, for a contingency fee, funded impecunious corporate plaintiff without providing plaintiff with indemnity against adverse costs orders – Whether power of Supreme Court of New South Wales to order costs against non-party enlivened – Whether non-party had committed abuse of process of the court within the meaning of Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 42.3(2)(c).

 

CORPORATIONS - extension of time for lodging change of details of a charge - s 264(4) Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) - failure due to inadvertence - short delay - remedial steps taken promptly - extension granted.

 

APPEAL – COMMERCIAL AND CONSUMER TRIBUNAL – QUEENSLAND – BUILDING CONTRACT – where claim brought in tribunal for money owing for building work – where counter-claim brought in tribunal for damages for defective building work – where offer of settlement was made by appellant – where tribunal member allowed claim and counter-claim in identical amounts – where director of the Appellant company seeks be joined as a party to the application and appeal – whether a proper party to the appeal – whether error of law was made by tribunal in exercise of the discretion to award costs

 

Termination of a domestic building contract – standard of work - defective work – breach of condition or warranty – rectification or damages – interest – costs. Commercial & Consumer Tribunal Act 2003 – sections 70 & 71(4); Domestic Building Contracts Act 2000 – sections 41, 42, 43 & 44.

 

Application for costs; Non compliance with the Domestic Building Contracts Act to document the contractual relationship; good reason for exercise of discretion.

 

Application for legal representation; opposed by self represented applicant, issues not unduly complex; not appropriate case for legal representation

 

Enforcement of Tribunal’s Orders; further orders made

 

Application for costs, no good reason established, application dismissed.