The Northern Territory Government has decided not to impose a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing for its onshore oil and gas industry giving the Territorys onshore oil and gas operators and investors investment certainty at a time that export and domestic opportunities are arising Partner Ben ...

The Australian Government has announced that from 1 March 2015 acquisitions of agricultural land worth more than A15 million and any additional acquisitions over and above that amount will require government approval It will also establish a foreign ownership register of agricultural land ...

After almost 10 years of negotiations between the nations on 17 November 2014 Prime Minister Abbott and President Xi announced the conclusion of negotiations on the China Australia Free Trade Agreement ChAFTA Once implemented the ChAFTA is expected to significantly reduce import barriers for ...

The Commonwealth has recently made regulation to implement Australias commitments under its free trade agreements with Japan Korea and Chile which will ease certain foreign investment review and life insurance business regulations for investors from those countries Japan Sector Leader and Partner ...

Having recently acquired a new CEO and a significant funding boost AUSTRAC is being closely watched by reporting entities for an indication of its future direction and priorities both at the policy and the enforcement level In light of this and with major review reports pending 2015 promises to be a ...

In the past 12 months there have been a number of important decisions of the Queensland Planning and Environment Court that provide an insight into the application of the courts discretion to award costs Special Counsel Rosanne Meurling and Senior Associate Michael Zissis discuss the lessons learned ...

Two recent trade mark cases have widened the field of marks that are potentially registerable in Australia on the basis that those marks are inherently adapted to distinguish. ...

Superannuation fund trustees and their lawyers including this one have been grappling for years with what the covenant in section 522c of the Superannuation Industry Supervision Act 1993 means What must a trustee do to exercise its powers and discharge its duties in the best interests of ...

Our Contract Law Update provides an overview of important contract law decisions by Australian appellate courts in the past 12 months and considers their significance for the development of Australian contract law ...

Today the Full Federal Court clarified the law of penalties as it applies to fees The key development is that in considering whether the amount of a fee is extravagant and exorbitant compared to the potential costs incurred in dealing with a failure to perform an obligation the court held that ...