Qld oil spill victims receive compensation

The shipping companies responsible for Queensland's largest natural disaster have settled their final compensation claim, a court has been told.
However the amount of money to be repaid to the state government for the massive clean-up after the 2009 oil spill is still yet to be determined.
Lawyers representing Swire Navigation Co Ltd and Bluewind Shipping Limited told the Federal Court in Brisbane on Wednesday that all small business and individuals affected by the spill have now received, or were about to receive, money for their claims.
The companies have so far paid out more than $17 million to more than 50 claimants, most from the fishing industry.
The money has come from a court-administered fund which was set up almost two years ago following the disaster.
In March 2009, Swire's cargo ship Pacific Adventurer lost 31 containers overboard off southeast Queensland in rough seas whipped up by Cyclone Hamish.
Some of the containers hit the vessel, resulting in a 270,000-litre fuel oil spill along Moreton and Bribie Islands and Sunshine Coast beaches.
The state government is yet to lodge its claim for the cost of the clean-up, however the court heard it could be seeking as much as $31 million.
The matter will be reviewed again in November, when it is expected the parties will discuss how to progress settlement of this claim.
The captain of the Pacific Adventurer, Captain Bernardino Gonzales Santos, is due to stand trial in the Brisbane District Court in October on one charge of discharging oil in coastal waters.
Swire Navigation Company Ltd and Bluewind Shipping Ltd, co-owners of the Pacific Adventurer, will also stand trial on the same charge, as will the ship's charterer, Swire Shipping Ltd, and the ship's manager, China Navigation Company Ltd.