The NSW Court of Appeal overturns Greens MP Ian Cohen’s victory against Byron Bay property developer Jerry Lee Bennette. The court finds Cohen was not protected by qualified privilege when he called his old adversary a thug and a bully ... more
Year: 2009
Pauline Hanson: Litigant without a cause
Now that the brouhaha over The Sunday Telegraph’s publication of fake nude photos of Pauline Hanson has all but abated, what can the “untamed and unashamed” redhead from Ipswich actually sue over? Stephen Collins looks at the possibilities and finds that Hanson may be a litigant without a cause ... more
Freedom of Speech conference – highlights and lowlights
A rich assortment of reptiles, lawyers, academics, policy makers, public servants and PR flacks assembled at the Sofitel Wentworth for the Freedom of Speech conference, hosted by Australia’s Right to Know. The Gazette was also there ... more
R v General Television Corporation Pty Ltd
Supreme Court of Victoria fines Channel Nine $15,000 for “careless” contempt over gangland widow Judy Moran’s naming of four prosecution witnesses during an interview with Libby Gore on “The Catch-Up”. Justice Thomas Smith finds it a serious breach and records a conviction ... more
R v The Herald & Weekly Times Pty Ltd
Victorian Supreme Court Justice Thomas Smith fines The Herald Sun $25,000 over two contempts in which a gangland informer was identified. The respondent’s remorse was “significantly qualified” he said ... more
Antoine Bechara v Paul Bonacorso, Michael Lassanah & Aaron Oddie v State of NSW, David Moses & Tangiwai Kawenga v State of NSW
NSW Police call for absolute privilege to be extended to statements made by them and to them, in three defamation actions before the NSW District Court. Defamation List Judge Judith Gibson explains why she’s not inclined to oblige ... more
Humanity’s price
The Foundation for Humanity’s Adulthood ordered to pay $500,000 in security for costs … Dr William McBride settles his defamation action after nearly 20 years … The West Australian fails to have Catholic Archbishop of Perth’s action struck out … Former parishioner sues Anglican Church over email alleging sexual harassment … Hair and car care tycoon loses bid to force Melbourne’s Herald Sun to disclose confidential sources ... more
Andrew Fraser v Brett Holmes
NSW Court of Appeal overturns first damages judgment delivered by the NSW Supreme Court under the uniform Defamation Act 2005. It finds Coffs Harbour MP Andrew Fraser was not motivated by malice when he wrote a defamatory letter about Brett Holmes, General Secretary of the NSW Nurses’ Association ... more
Whistleblower protections – narrow, unworkable and unhelpful
The Australian Press Council’s Policy Officer Inez Ryan reviews the recently released Whistleblower Protection Report and finds it offers virtually no protection at all for whistleblowers who go directly to the media. The proposed criteria are narrow, unworkable and unhelpful ... more
Appeals, settlements and other distractions
Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib continues to appeal … More perversity for the NSW Court of Appeal … Settlement for old adversaries Alan Jones and Olympic boss John Coates … Freedom of Speech conference details … An assault of new defamation actions against Fairfax, Nationwide News and Channel Seven ... more
High stakes
The High Court has heard three defamation matters in the past month, with varying degrees of interest. A damages appeal was hosed out … The new Chief Justice Robert French floated a simple test for “defamatory” in the context of submissions about “business defamation” ... Justice William Gummow wanted to know the meaning of the word “journalist” ... more
Macquarie Bank Ltd v Nationwide News Pty Ltd
ACT Supreme Court judge Malcolm Gray delivers a rare victory for the media, finding that no defamatory imputations were conveyed by an article in The Australian about Macquarie Bank and two of its executives. He also finds “little to commend the content” ... more