Court of Appeal rejects Adani's application to search an activist's home & Supreme Court orders Adani to pay $106.8 million to four companies - in part due to its own "serious dishonesty"

ABC News, 27 August 2020:

Mining company Adani secretly sought to raid the Brisbane home of an activist to seize evidence but failed twice, court documents have revealed.

Adani and its Carmichael Rail Network applied for a search order, known as an Anton Piller order, against Benjamin Pennings in June this year.

It claimed Mr Pennings had possession of "confidential information on a computer at his home" which was being used in a concerted campaign of "intimidation and conspiracy" against the Galilee Basin coal project.

As part of the application, Adani claimed Mr Pennings had information to which only company executives and other select staff and contractors had access.

Anton Piller orders are searches carried out without notice to the defendant to ensure that evidence cannot be destroyed and is preserved to be used in judicial proceedings.

Adani's court application and subsequent appeal in July were also heard ex parte, meaning they were both heard without notice.

Adani has described Mr Pennings as the "principal" of a group of political activists called the "Galilee Blockade", whose objective is to prevent the development of the mine and railway.

In rejecting Adani and Carmichael Rail Network's appeal last week, the Court of Appeal ruled the evidence was "wholly inadequate to justify the order sought".

"The appellants have failed to establish the likelihood that Mr Pennings has any confidential information or that he has any confidential information stored at his home," the Court of Appeal judges said.

"They have failed to establish the likelihood that the use of any confidential information has resulted in any loss."

The Court of Appeal also raised concerns about the impact of a search order could have had on Mr Pennings' partner and children.

"Surely, to permit a search of a defendant's house, with the humiliation and family distress which that might involve, lies at the outer boundary of the discretion," the Court of Appeal judges said.

"This is because, for reasons that anyone can understand, the 'shock, anger, confusion' and the 'sense of violation and powerlessness' will be much greater in such a case and may be suffered not only by someone who is proved in due course to be a wrongdoer, but by entirely innocent parties as well."……

Read the full article here.

BACKGROUND

Mining Pty Ltd & Anor v Pennings [2020] QCA 169 (17 August 2020)

The Adani Group appears to have been the applicant or been named as a respondent in around seven court cases between 2013 and 2020.

This is the latest:

Adani Abbot Point Terminal Pty Ltd v Lake Vermont Resources Pty Ltd & Ors [2020] QSC 260 – 26 August 2020. Adani ordered to pay $106.8 million.

Excerpts from the judgment:

“[197] The applicant’s conduct was deliberate, not just heedless or indifferent ⁸¹ to the position of the remaining users. The applicant was fully cognisant as to the effect its behaviour would have in increasing the fixed costs to the remaining users. It desired that effect in order to advantage itself financially. That is, to achieve a gain for itself, the applicant engaged in calculated behaviour to the disadvantage of the respondents.⁸² This is evident in the timing and structure of the QCPL transactions.”

“[203] The applicant’s behaviour in attempting to disguise or camouflage the true basis of its dealings with QCPL involved dishonesty – [117] ff and [122], and so far as this proceeding is concerned, involved serious dishonesty – [98] and [121].”

PACIFIC HIGHWAY UPGRADE: flooding fears surface in the Clarence Valley in 2020

ClarenceValley Independent, 26 August 2020:

As the new highway nears completion across the Lower Clarence, fears have been raised about what happens during a flood, due to the highway apparently acting as a dam at various locations.

The areas around Ferry Park to Shark Creek (where rising floodwater first breaks the river’s banks) and Chatsworth Island (where long sections of the highway “act like a dam wall”) are locations where floodwater behaviour will be affected.

And, with the Bureau of Meteorology announcing that there is a 70 per cent chance of La Nina developing (“roughly three times the average likelihood”), which “typically increases the chance of above average rainfall across much of Australia during spring”, the flood modelling in Pacific Complete’s Hydrological Mitigation Report,Glenugie to Devils Pulpit could be put to the test sooner, rather than later.

In general terms, according to a letter from Transport NSW, in answer to an enquiry by Chatsworth Island resident Shane Williams, changes to flood behaviour across the Clarence River regional catchment are as follows:

• A minor increase in flood level to the west of the highway;
• A minor decrease in flood level to the east;
• A minor increase in flood duration to the west and also to the east in some areas; and,
• No perceptible change in flood velocity or direction.

The mitigation report states in the overall flood impact assessment that resultant increases in flood levels across the floodplain are“considered minor and generally meet the limits set by the flood management objectives”.

On flood duration, the report states that, overall, any changes in duration “meet the limits set by the flood management objectives (less than five percent increase)”, however, at “some small localised areas … between Maclean and Iluka Road … the flood duration is predicted to be affected by more than five percent”.

“Under existing conditions, most of the land within the Clarence River regional floodplain is flooded for more than 72 hours for the 20, 50 and 100-year ARI (average recurrence interval) events,” the report states.

“For the 5-year ARI event, areas around the fringe of the floodplain are flooded for a range of durations from less than six hours up to 72 hours.”

The report states that “there are small increases in flood level between five millimetres to 15 millimetres in the Clarence River main channel” and that “there are no impacts to the township of Maclean in the 5 and 20-year ARI flood events, as the Maclean levee is not overtopped”.

While the levee “is overtopped under both existing and future conditions for the 50-year ARI event … and a large part of Maclean is flooded”, the report notes that “further analysis” of the 50-year ARI event is incomplete and that “mitigation measures are under investigation”.

At Harwood “a minor increase in flood levels upstream due to the bridge piers” is an expectation……

Read the full article here.

BACKGROUND

Glenugie to Devils Pulpit hydrological mitigation report update - Maclean levee 2017 [PDF]

Cartoons of the Week

Cathy Wilcox

Wes Mountain

Graeme MacKay

As if the NSW Northern Rivers doesn't have enough on its plate, here's Pete!

IMAGE: realestate.com.au

TV chef and wannabe social media 'influencer' Pete Evans has his two-level Malabar home (left) on the market again.

Word is that he is making his ten hectare Round Mountain Farm, near Pottsville, home base as he prepares to open a healing clinic in Byron Bay now that Channel 7 has apparently tired of his antics.

That's right readers, your eyes didn't deceive you, the man who peddled glorified light shows as preventatives against COVID-19 and was fined more than $25,000 by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) over false claims he made about the "BioCharger", wants to run an alternative healing business in The Habitat, Byron’s new commercial precinct which has reportedly attracted health and beauty outlets.

The same man who without any scientific or medical training gave alarmingly bad advice to osteoporosis sufferers and was publicly slammed by the Australian Medical Association.

Who promotes 'anti-vaxxer' sites as well as the debunked "Plandemic: Indoctrination" conspiracy film on social media and, suggests putting doTERRA essential oils in your chicken broth - regardless of the fact that these oils are rarely advised to be taken internally.

Finally, this is the man who thinks 'fat shaming' a woman is a fun thing to do on Facebook.

It seems that Evans may have sensed a vacancy, since former tennis coach and "esoteric healer" Serge Benhayon removed himself from the local spotlight after he spectacularly lost a defamation case in 2018 to the tune of an estimated $1.2 million payout to the respondent and then Universal Medicine was stripped of its Lismore Business Awards after a review by the Lismore Chamber of Commerce.

Grafton still chasing after its lost Regional City classification

Grafton, NSW
IMAGE: www.visitnsw.com

The 2016 national census recorded the population of Grafton in the Clarence Valley as 10,385 people living in 4,696 dwellings, with an average household size of 2.27. 

Last year it was optimistically estimated that the population had grown to 10,629 people - an increase of 224 people in the last 3 years - though how many of these are Pacific Highway road workers who will soon move on to other areas is not known.

The fact of the matter is that Grafton's population in the 28 years between the 1991 and 2016 census only grew by est. 125 people. 

Grafton, which was made a city over 135 years ago, has been in decline now for at least the last 20 years. Its regional city status was removed by the Baird Coalition Government in 2016 when it was reclassified as a strategic centre.

It is unlikely to have city status reinstated while the local population continues to age and, in some years more people are leaving or dying than are coming into Grafton as permanent residents.

Clarence Valley Council continues to hope and throw money at an intractable problem........

The Daily Examiner, 21 August 2020:

Clarence Valley Council’s local strategic planning statement will form the basis of council’s direction with regard to their plans over the coming years.

It is a large document that has received submissions over the past months from community groups, government organisations and ratepayers having their say about how it should be approached.

As the draft of the plan came before this week’s Environment, Planning and Community committee, Mayor Jim Simmons took the opportunity to question the balance of where the priorities lie.

Mr Simmons said he supported the focus on returning Grafton to regional city status, and the emphasis on the strategic importance of Grafton, the surrounding infrastructure and industry.

However, he was concerned the draft was too Grafton-centric. “When I read this document, the first thing that hit my head … is the emphasis placed on expenditure in Grafton and the surrounding areas,” Cr Simmons said.

“I would like the rest of the information in the report to also hit me in the face, and get a little bit excited over what it means for areas outside Grafton.

“I’d like to see the same thing hitting me in the face for the Lower Clarence — in fact the whole Clarence Valley.” It is a sentiment reflected in comments made on the draft planning statement. The report to council notes there were a number of well-articulated concerns raised about the focus placed on Grafton and the apparent emphasis, and therefore council spending, in and around Grafton.

“This included requests for no more spending on a number of areas, including the airport, a possible freight hub, efforts to grow the population and promoting Grafton as a Regional City,” it states.

“Some submissions stated that Grafton is not an attractor for residents of the Lower Clarence, who are more likely to use Ballina and Lismore for shopping, medical, air travel and other needs.” The report states despite these submissions, it was recommended council continue to support the promotion of Grafton as a Regional City, to provide for the community and grow the economy and provide job prospects and social opportunities.....

When someone on Clarence Valley Council staff can't add the dollars up

If local government administration in the Clarence Valley thought it could quietly adjust a $9,576 maths error it found it was mistaken...... 

The Daily Telegraph, 20 August 2020:

An accounting error has led to council staff underestimating the cost of a councillor pay rise.

The controversial decision to raise the rate of remuneration for councillors and the mayor was passed at the Clarence Valley Council’s July meeting and was expected to cost $88,012.

However, in the monthly financial report tabled at the Corporate Governance and Works committee meeting yesterday, the figure had grown to $97,588 – with no explanation.

While acknowledging staff had already provided an answer as to why there was a difference, Councillor Greg Clancy asked that it be explained again for the public record.

Director of corporate and governance Laura Black said the reason for the discrepancy was because the original calculation for the adopted budget was not correct.

“We didn’t pick that up until such time as we did the re-calculation when council last month adopted the option for the increase,” she said.

“The report itself should detail that and doesn’t do that.” Mr Clancy then wanted clarification on whether the mistake would have some bearing on the motion carried at the previous meeting, which specified the $88,012 to be reflected in the monthly financial report.

“I can’t understand how we can have two separate figures. When we have a motion that says $88,012 and the table here is $97,588,” he said.

Council general manager Ashley Lindsay said council was in fact correcting the record with the monthly report, but agreed with Ms Black in that it should have contained an explanation. 

Ms Black added that councillors had not yet adopted the change to the budget, something which would occur at the quarterly budget review…..

I am one Yamba resident who is really incensed that these wealthy, self-entitled #COVIDIOTS placed my community at risk

I suspect that I am not the only Clarence Valley resident disturbed by this breach of COVID-19 public health orders.

Like others I am wondering why the Port Of Yamba, a first point of entry for vessels and certain goods, as determined under subsection 229(1) of the Biosecurity Act 2015 (Cth), a) did not restrict the "Lady Pamela" to an overnight only mooring within the formal limits of the port and prohibit crew or passengers from leaving the confines of the yacht or b) if mooring was for longer than overnight did not require passengers & crew to be tested for the virus.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 August 2020:

Melbourne millionaire Mark Simonds and his family face a two-week stay in hotel lockdown after the Queensland government revoked a quarantine exemption for their super-yacht Lady Pamela. 

The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, in a joint investigation with A Current Affair, revealed the 30-metre vessel docked on the Gold Coast on Monday morning after slipping out of Melbourne on August 9 and stopping on at least five occasions as it sailed up the east coast. 

Mr Simonds, executive director of the ASX-listed Simonds Group, was joined on his 15-day jaunt by his wife, Cheryl, his youngest son Vallence and Hannah Fox, daughter of Linfox executive chairman Peter Fox. 

The Queensland government granted an exemption to the Lady Pamela on Sunday night to enter the state but on Tuesday afternoon that exemption was revoked after Queensland Health said it had received new information. 

"All seven people are now required to quarantine in a government-approved hotel for 14 days at their own expense," a Queensland Health spokesperson said. 

"Attempting to bypass or manipulate Queensland's border direction is unacceptable." Queensland Police had been provided with video evidence by A Current Affair, which revealed passengers and crew disembarking from the Lady Pamela in Yamba on August 21, which is understood to have breached the conditions of their exemption. 

The group, which also includes several crew members, were removed from the Lady Pamela by members of Queensland Police just before 7pm on Tuesday evening, before they boarded a mini-van.....

Since last Wednesday, the boat had been moored in an inlet in Yamba, on the NSW north coast, where the Simonds family were seen swimming in the Clarence River and drinking on deck, while a crew member was dispatched to bring supplies.

Marine Traffic, 26 August 2020:

Where is the ship?
Pleasure Craft LADY PAMELA is currently located at EAUS - East Australia at position 27° 51' 48.564" S, 153° 20' 20.76" E as reported by MarineTraffic Terrestrial Automatic Identification System on 2020-08-25 21:25 UTC (58 minutes ago)
The wind in this area at that time blows from North direction at force 0 Beaufort.

Where is this vessel going to?
The vessel is currently at port HOPE ISLAND, AU after a voyage of 2 days, 22 hours originating from port YAMBA, AU.

What kind of ship is this?
LADY PAMELA (MMSI: 503009200) is a Pleasure Craft and is sailing under the flag of Australia.
Her length overall (LOA) is 29 meters and her width is 7 meters.