Category Archives: Defamation law

ABC article defamed commando by naming him and running ‘huge colour photo’, court told

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Heston Russell’s lawyer tells federal court readers were given ‘impression’ he was responsible for shooting an unarmed prisoner in Afghanistan

Lawyers for a former special forces officer have argued an ABC article portrayed him as a war criminal, despite not directly alleging he had committed crimes.

Heston Russell is suing the ABC and two of its investigative journalists over stories published in 2020 and 2021 which he argues gave readers the “impression” he was responsible for shooting an unarmed prisoner and was being investigated.

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Peter Dutton’s defamation case against refugee activist Shane Bazzi ends with resolution

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Bazzi will not face prospect of high court overturning earlier win and Dutton will not pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs

Peter Dutton’s defamation case against Shane Bazzi has come to an end, with the Liberal leader dropping his attempted high court appeal and the refugee activist ceasing a bid for costs.

Bazzi’s lawyers, O’Brien Criminal & Civil Solicitors, revealed the pair had reached a resolution with final orders made by the full federal court on Monday.

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Daily Mail Australia to appeal Erin Molan’s win in defamation case over racism accusations

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Notice of appeal lodged in federal court says $150,000 in damages paid to Sky News broadcaster is ‘manifestly excessive’

The Daily Mail Australia is appealing a defamation win by Sky News broadcaster Erin Molan, who was awarded $150,000 over an article and two tweets that accused her of appearing to mock Polynesian names in a radio broadcast.

Molan told the federal court last year she did not think she was mocking Polynesian names when she said “hooka looka mooka hooka fooka” on Radio 2GB in 2020.

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Clive Palmer ordered to pay part of Mark McGowan’s legal costs after defamation battle

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Billionaire’s costs will not similarly be paid by WA premier, as judge finds ‘asymmetry of responsibility’ for ‘long and costly’ case

Clive Palmer has been ordered to pay part of Mark McGowan’s legal costs while the Western Australian premier will pay none of the billionaire’s, despite the federal court finding they both defamed each other.

On Thursday, Justice Michael Lee found there was an “asymmetry of responsibility” for the “long and costly” hearing of the case, because Palmer launched proceedings but only McGowan “was willing to draw back” by offering to drop the case in December 2021.

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Wagatha Christie: big-budget drama joins race to bring libel trial to screen

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Poldark creator among writers and film-makers lining up to reconstruct spat between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney

A big-budget drama featuring major characters in the Wagatha Christie case is to join the slew of documentaries already in production, as the race to bring to the small screen the rancorous details of the high court battle that ended on Friday hots up.

The row between two high-profile footballers’ wives, which ended last week when the judge ruled in favour of Coleen Rooney, is to be turned into television serial by one of Britain’s leading screenwriters. Debbie Horsfield, who adapted Poldark for the 2015-19 BBC series, is to write a drama chronicling the notorious public row between Rebekah Vardy, wife of leading Leicester goal scorer Jamie Vardy, and Coleen Rooney, wife of Wayne, the renowned former England player and, until last month, manager of Derby County.

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Ben Roberts-Smith’s year-long defamation trial against three newspapers concludes

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Ex-soldier’s barrister tells court that reporters ‘jumped on rumours’, while newspapers’ counsel alleges Roberts-Smith ‘prepared to lie under oath’

Ben Roberts-Smith’s long-running defamation case has concluded in Sydney, with his barrister telling the court the decorated former soldier was the victim of a “war of words” from jealous comrades intent on tearing down his reputation.

After more than 100 days of evidence, 42 witnesses from around the world, hundreds of exhibits, and thousands of pages of transcripts, the year-long trial ended with closing submissions from legal teams Wednesday morning.

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Evidence of Afghan witnesses against Ben Roberts-Smith ‘hardly neutral’, lawyer tells court

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Lawyers for Ben Roberts-Smith urge court to disregard evidence of Afghan witnesses, saying the men were prejudiced against Australian soldiers

Lawyers for Ben Roberts-Smith have urged the court hearing a defamation trial to reject the testimony of three Afghan men who gave evidence against the Australian soldier in his defamation trial, saying they regarded foreign troops as “infidels” and gave “inconsistent and contradictory” evidence.

“To say they are credible is incredible,” Roberts-Smith’s barrister, Arthur Moses SC, told the federal court in closing submissions in the former soldier’s long-running defamation action.

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Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial hears Australian SAS soldiers ‘turned a blind eye’ to alleged war crimes

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In closing submissions, newspapers’ lawyer accuses several of Roberts-Smith’s witnesses of ‘outright dishonesty’

A powerful omertà within Australia’s SAS caused soldiers to “turn a blind eye to the most despicable and egregious breaches of the laws of war”, Ben Roberts-Smith’s long-running defamation trial has heard.

On the second day of closing submissions, Nicholas Owens SC, acting for the newspapers being sued by Roberts-Smith, said witnesses, including those called by the newspapers, were reluctant to report alleged war crimes because of a “pervasive culture” that forced new soldiers in particular to “toe the line” of the regiment’s culture.

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PRGuy unmasks himself in video with Friendlyjordies after legal threat by Avi Yemini

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Jeremy Maluta reveals he is behind pro-Labor Twitter account PRGuy17 but says he has no media experience or connection to Daniel Andrews

The man behind the formerly anonymous pro-Labor Twitter account PRGuy17 has unmasked himself, after far-right figure Avi Yemini attempted to use the courts to reveal whether the account had ties to the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews.

Jeremy Maluta told YouTuber Friendlyjordies in a video released on Friday that he has no PR or social media experience, works in an industry completely unrelated to politics or the media, and has no connections to Andrews.

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Peter Dutton asks high court for permission to appeal against defamation case loss to Shane Bazzi

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Liberal leader says refugee advocate’s May win in full federal court was a ‘miscarriage of justice’ and applies for special leave to appeal

Peter Dutton has sought leave to appeal in the high court against his loss in the defamation case he brought against Shane Bazzi, questioning whether there had been a “miscarriage of justice”.

The Liberal party leader has filed an application for special leave to appeal against his loss in the full federal court, arguing that the appeal court erred by finding Bazzi’s tweet “Peter Dutton is a rape apologist” did not convey the defamatory meaning that he “excused rape”.

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Libel loss for Arron Banks gives welcome fillip to media industry

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Analysis: Ruling bucks trend for wealthy individuals to suppress public interest reporting via courts

The decision by a high court judge to dismiss a libel claim brought against the Observer and Guardian journalist Carole Cadwalladr by the multimillionaire Brexit backer Arron Banks is a timely shot in the arm for public interest journalism.

Concerns have long been mounting that the legal landscape in England and Wales places excessive restrictions on reporting, with London – where the high court is situated – often described as the libel capital of the world.

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Australian defamation law never needed Morrison’s ‘anti-trolling’ legislation

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Experts say rulings in actions involving John Barilaro and PRGuy17 demonstrate existing law already achieves aims of former government’s proposed changes

Two rulings in separate defamation cases – one involving John Barilaro, and the other targeting a pro-Labor Twitter account – show how Australia’s current laws already allow victims of online abuse to take their fight to court and win.

Google last week was ordered to pay Barilaro, the former New South Wales deputy premier, more than $700,000 over a series of “racist” and “abusive” videos published on YouTube channel Friendlyjordies.

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Defamation trial hears ‘malicious’ text message Pauline Hanson sent former senator’s wife

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Brian Burston, who represented One Nation from 2016 to 2018, is suing his former leader for what he says were accusations of sexual harassment against him

Pauline Hanson sent a “spiteful” and “malicious” text message to the wife of former One Nation senator Brian Burston claiming that he considered her to be an “old bag” and was “infatuated” with one of his staff members, a court has heard.

A defamation trial brought by Burston against Hanson began in the federal court on Monday over a series of what he argues are allegations of sexual harassment made against him on social media, in interviews and in a text to his wife, Rosalyn.

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Friendlyjordies: John Barilaro to be paid $715,000 by Google over YouTube videos

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Tech giant and comedian Jordan Shanks may face contempt of court charges over videos published during trial

Google has been ordered to pay former New South Wales deputy premier John Barilaro more than $700,000 over a series of “racist” and “abusive” videos published on YouTube channel Friendlyjordies.

On Monday, federal court justice Stephen Rares ruled that Barilaro had been left “traumatised” by a campaign of “relentless cyberbullying” by comedian Jordan Shanks, who uses the nom de plume Friendlyjordies

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Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial hears conflicting evidence over Afghan deaths

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Troops who were present at Whiskey 108 compound split over whether two men shot dead were murdered or were insurgents killed lawfully

The tunnel at Whiskey 108 – and whether there were any people hiding in it – continues to dominate and divide the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial, with an SAS soldier accusing a comrade of cowardice over a raid on the compound in the Afghan village of Kakarak.

At issue is whether two men killed in the compound in April 2009, were pulled from the tunnel and murdered by Australian troops, or were insurgents lawfully killed in a firefight.

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Craig McLachlan allegedly threw tantrums and threatened Rocky Horror Show cast members, court told

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Defence barrister tells defamation trial McLachlan had ‘tendency to get angry easily’

Craig McLachlan has been portrayed in court as an allegedly powerful and angry lead actor who threw tantrums, threatened cast members and physically abused actresses.

Defence barrister Michael Hodge QC on Friday took a defamation trial jury through several incidents in which McLachlan, 56, was alleged to have been furious at supervisor directions, musicians missing cues and fellow actors changing their performances without notice.

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Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial: witness expected to deny wrongdoing in killing of Afghan villager

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Person 11 to give evidence on allegation by newspapers that Roberts-Smith kicked handcuffed man off cliff before ordering him shot

An Australian soldier alleged by three newspapers to have participated with Ben Roberts-Smith in the “joint criminal enterprise” of murdering an Afghan villager named Ali Jan is set to appear in the federal court this week as a witness for Roberts-Smith in his defamation action against the newspapers.

Anonymised before the court as Person 11, the SAS’s soldier evidence will be critical to Roberts-Smith’s case over the events in the village of Darwan on 11 September 2012, when Roberts-Smith is alleged, by the newspapers in their defence, to have kicked a handcuffed Ali Jan off a cliff before ordering him shot.

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Who shot the dog? The canine killing that could play a crucial role in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial

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Identity of Afghan special forces member who killed stray dog could prove critical in newspapers’ defence

Amid allegations of war crimes, of murder, and of domestic violence, the seemingly inconsequential but bizarre death of a dog has dominated days of evidence in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial.

It has done so because the identity of an Afghan special forces member who shot the stray dog – accidentally injuring an Australian soldier – during an SAS mission in July 2012 could prove critical in an allegation of murder made against Roberts-Smith in the newspapers’ defence.

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Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial: former patrol commander denies ordering execution of elderly prisoner

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Ex-soldier known as Person 5 denies allegation put by lawyers acting for newspapers

Ben Roberts-Smith’s former patrol commander has denied in court accusations he ordered the execution of an elderly Afghan prisoner discovered hiding in a tunnel – in an alleged “blooding” of a junior soldier.

The retired soldier, anonymised before the court as Person 5, was directly challenged on Tuesday by lawyers for three newspapers being sued by Roberts-Smith: “You told [soldier] Person 4 to murder the old man.”

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Witness in Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial denies he is a ‘liar and a fantasist’

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Former SAS soldier defends himself against accusations from Arthur Moses SC of trying to justify his own failures as a soldier

A former SAS soldier who testified that Ben Roberts-Smith ordered him to stage a mock execution of a comrade during a training drill has defended himself in court against accusations he was a liar and fantasist who was trying to justify his own failures as a soldier.

Roberts-Smith’s lawyers accused the former soldier, known as Person 10, of fabricating evidence out of malice against Roberts-Smith, and feelings of inadequacy about his own performance on missions in Afghanistan.

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