20 July 2010

NSW now bearing the brunt of bushfire litigation

| johnboy
Join the conversation
4

The ABC has a lengthy story (byline and subheads and all) on the withdrawal of the Tener family from the marathon litigation stemming from the 2003 bushfires.

Possibly of more interest is this bit:

The Tener family is now the fourth group of plaintiffs to pull out of proceedings within the last eight months, after the departure of QBE, Suncorp Metway and NRMA insurance.

There are now just over 100 plaintiffs remaining in the 2003 Canberra bushfire litigation.

The ABC understands that there are now more bushfires plaintiffs suing the NSW Government, than the ACT Government.

Due to the general craptacularness of the ACT’s courts and their general inability to conduct complex cases the case is not expected to return to court until April 2011. But the lawyers keep getting richer, and that’s what it’s all about.

Join the conversation

4
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

I tend to side more strongly with troll shifter then ricci. Trying to set some sort of legal precedent that all fires need to be put out as quickly as possible, regardless of cost, skill of staff, etc is seems a little dopey to me. But I have home insurance.

colourful sydney racing identity3:51 pm 20 Jul 10

+1 @ #1

troll-sniffer’s comments do not deserve a response, so he is not getting one from me apart from this.

troll-sniffer2:31 pm 20 Jul 10

Well now wouldn’t that knock yer socks off. A litigation case started (against the odds of reason and logic) by a disgruntled section of the population unwilling to take responsibility for their own lifestyle choices.

Now that as expected it has started to go pear-shaped, with those whose brain cells are actually working deciding it’s time to pull the pin and not proceed into a pointless fray, only the hard-core of Today Tonight watchers remain, still convinced the firefighters and the guvmnt were responsible for their otherwise insurable losses and that they are owed a Lotto-like dividend from the public purse.

If the case is thrown out as it should be it will be a wake up call to all those who live in similar areas to take a bit of responsibility and not to assume the rest of society owes them protection they failed to arrange for themselves.

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.