Australia Hits Hard: Google Sued, Qantas Slammed With $90M Fine, and Ukraine Gets More Support
Australia Stands Firm With Ukraine
Ukraine’s Ambassador Thanks PM Albanese
Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, has welcomed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s ongoing commitment to Ukraine. This came after the latest show of support from Australia in the ongoing conflict with Russia.
The ambassador praised Australia’s continued involvement and emphasized the importance of keeping up the pressure on Russia. He said that countries like Australia must remain consistent in supporting Ukraine through military aid and sanctions.
Australia has been a strong ally throughout the war, contributing military and financial aid. Myroshnychenko said this support is critical and called on other nations to follow Australia’s example.
Google in Legal Trouble: ACCC Launches Major Lawsuit
Watchdog Takes Aim at Google’s Search Engine Deals
In a major move, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has launched legal action against Google. The ACCC claims that Google made deals with phone companies to limit competition.
According to the lawsuit, between December 2019 and March 2021, Google signed agreements with major telecom providers that ensured Google Search was the default on Android phones. In return, the companies received a share of the advertising revenue—cutting out competitors completely.
These deals meant other search engines had little to no chance of being used on those devices.
Google Admits Fault, Faces Huge Penalty
Google has admitted to the conduct and agreed to a $55 million fine. The company also committed to ending such restrictive agreements in the future. This case marks another example of tech giants facing increasing scrutiny over how they use their power in digital markets.
Qantas Slammed for ‘Ruthless’ Sackings: Court Fines Airline $90 Million
Federal Court Delivers Major Blow to Qantas
The Federal Court has ruled against Qantas, ordering the airline to pay a $90 million fine over the illegal sacking of nearly 2,000 workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The court found that Qantas had deliberately and illegally outsourced 1,820 ground-handling jobs to cut costs.
The decision came after a long-running legal battle between Qantas and the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU).
Labor Senator Blasts Qantas and Coalition Government
NSW Labor Senator Tony Sheldon weighed in on the verdict, saying the fine confirms that workers were “sacked in a ruthless, calculated act of corporate cost-cutting.”
Sheldon, who previously served as the national secretary of the TWU, criticized the former Coalition government for enabling the mass job cuts. He accused them of siding with Qantas by allowing loopholes to remain open and providing $2.7 billion in taxpayer-funded bailouts during the pandemic—without conditions.
He added that instead of helping affected families, the government treated the sackings as a “commercial decision,” and cheered on the replacement of experienced workers with lower-paid staff doing the same jobs.
One of the Biggest Illegal Sackings in Corporate History
This case is now being called one of the largest illegal sackings in Australia’s corporate history. With $90 million in fines and an earlier $120 million already paid in compensation agreements, Qantas is now facing over $200 million in total costs linked to this outsourcing move.
The fine also serves as a warning to other corporations about the consequences of large-scale, unlawful workforce changes. For many, it marks a turning point in how worker rights are defended in Australia.
