Australia news live: BHP loses Brazil dam collapse case; man charged with hate speech over NSW parliament rally | Australia news
important events
Man charged with hate speech after neo-Nazi rally outside NSW parliament
Penry Buckley
legalized ok
A man has been charged with an alleged hate speech offense in connection with a protest by a neo-Nazi group outside the NSW parliament in November last year.
On 8 November, around 60 members of the disbanded National Socialist Network organized on Macquarie Street, allegedly carrying a large banner reading “Abolish the Jewish Lobby”. Police did not oppose the “form 1” application for the protest after seeking legal advice after the banner did not meet the threshold for hate speech.
Following an investigation into the protest and two speeches allegedly made by participants, a 32-year-old man was arrested at a home in South Penrith at 1.45pm, NSW police said last night. He was taken to Penrith police station on charges of publicly inciting hatred on grounds of race and causing fear. He was released on conditional bail to appear in the local court on June 3.
“An investigation into this matter was conducted by the security investigation unit, counterterrorism and special tactics command, and legal advice was requested regarding the content of public meetings and speeches,” police said.
Section 93ZAA of the NSW Crimes Act, the offense of publicly inciting hatred on grounds of race, was introduced in August 2025. NSW police minister Jasmine CatleyHe said six people had been charged with the crime, according to budget estimates in February this year.
The National Socialist Network was disbanded in January, before legislation banning “hate groups” was introduced to the federal parliament.
BHP cannot appeal ruling that it is responsible for 2015 dam collapse
The London Court of Appeal cannot appeal a UK ruling that BHP was liable for the 2015 collapse of a dam in southeastern Brazil in a case potentially worth billions of dollars, Australia’s Associated Press reported.
In November, London’s high court ruled that BHP was liable under Brazilian law for the collapse of the Fundao dam in the Marianas in southeastern Brazil, owned and operated by Samarco, a joint venture between Australia-based BHP and Brazilian company Vale.
BHP’s application for leave to appeal was rejected overnight at the appeal court in London on the grounds that there was “insufficient evidence” to justify the high court’s findings.
Brazil’s worst environmental disaster unleashed a wave of toxic mud that killed 19 people, left thousands homeless, flooded forests and polluted a length of the Doce River.
Lawyers representing hundreds of thousands of Brazilians and other plaintiffs at the London trial, which begins in 2024, accused BHP, the world’s largest miner by market value, of trying to evade responsibility.
However, BHP argued that the case duplicated legal proceedings and repair and restoration programs in Brazil. In the first week of the trial, Brazil signed a 170 billion reais ($A48 billion) compensation agreement with BHP, Vale and Samarco.
BHP said it was confident that the work carried out since 2015 and the agreement with Brazil would “provide the fastest and most efficient solution” to compensate those affected by the dam failure.
It was also stated that approximately 240,000 plaintiffs, representing roughly 40 percent of the plaintiff class, received compensation in Brazil, meaning their cases will be stayed.
Law firm Pogust Goodhead, which represented the claimants, described the appeal decision as “a further victory” for the victims and a “major setback” for BHP.
The first stage of the case was to determine whether BHP was liable to the plaintiffs, with a further hearing expected to begin in April 2027 to decide the damages payable.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I Martin Farrer with the best night stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action.
A man in New South Wales has been charged by police with an alleged hate speech offense in connection with a protest by a neo-Nazi group outside the NSW parliament in November last year. More is coming.
BHP cannot appeal a UK ruling that it was responsible for the collapse of a dam in south-east Brazil in 2015, a London appeals court has said in a case potentially worth billions of dollars. More details coming soon.
Penny Wong He said the government continues to focus its diplomacy on fuel security as the situation in the Middle East remains “challenging”.
