Category / Damages / Defamatory meaning / Qualified privilege / fair and accurate report / News / Trial / Truth
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Guilty of $3.75 million radio defamation? … Mr Jones I presume: Wagner v Harbour Radio PL & Ors [2018] QSC 201
Denis, John, Neill and Joe Wagner are brothers from Toowoomba and the owners of a highly successful family business. Their father, Henry had conducted a concrete quarry, stone masonry and earthmoving business.…
October 10, 2018 -
Lying defamation defendant shot down by Sporting Shooters – $887,027.66 in damages: Moroney v Zegers [2018] VSC 448
For a short time in 2012, Karel Zegers was the Acting President of the Victorian branch of the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (SSAAV). His position on the Board was up for…
August 20, 2018 -
Politician not so pushy – Sophie Mirabella wins $175,000: Mirabella v Price & Benalla Newspapers Pty Ltd [2018] VCC 650
Sophie Mirabella was the Member of the House of Representatives for the seat of Indi in rural Victoria from 2001 to 2013. In 2015, the Liberal Party pre-selected her once again to…
August 15, 2018 -
Channel Nine’s “disgraceful” story – $300,000 damages: Pahjua v TCN Channel Nine PL [2018] NSWSC 893
Sunil Pahuja migrated to Australia at 27, did a Masters in accounting and developed a business installing solar panels. He knew many people in the Indian community and was to become the…
August 8, 2018 -
Dank v Nationwide News Pty Ltd [2016] NSWSC 295. Number of days in Stephen Dank’s defamation trial – 20. Judgment Awarded – Priceless
Since 2013, the Australian sporting landscape has been dominated, not by any particularly amazing footballer, cricketer or athlete. No, it has been dominated by Stephen Dank – “sports scientist”. He is the…
March 30, 2016 -
Defendants’ go all-in: Plaintiff calls their bluff and wins the $340,000 pot: Polias v Ryall & Ors [2014] NSWSC 1692
The plaintiff and four defendants were poker players used to playing high stakes games: hands worth thousands of dollars. In the middle of 2012, the plaintiff and the first defendant went to…
February 9, 2015 -
Setka further set back by the Prime Minister in Court of Appeal: Setka v Abbott & Anor [2013] VSCA 345
John Setka is the Divisional Branch Assistant Secretary of the Victorian Branch of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU). On 10 February 2012, the now Prime Minister (then Leader…
December 4, 2013 -
No tort for breach of privacy in South Australian epic: Sands v South Australia [2013] SASC 44
In a trial that ran for 55 days late last year and concluding in February this year, the plaintiff, Derick John Sands, has lost his claim for defamation, as well as other…
April 18, 2013 -
Tanzanian Tycoon’s Claim Falls Flat: Mengi v Hermitage [2012] EWHC 3445
In 2004, Sarah Hermitage, an English solicitor, and her husband, Stewart Middleton, an agronomist, bought a lease to the Silverdale Farm in Tanzania for $112,000. They wanted to live there peacefully and…
January 21, 2013 -
Murray Water Corporation sent down the river for $295,000: Belbin& Others v Lower Murray Urban and Rural Water Corporation [2012] VSC 535
In the northwest of Victoria sits the orange-picking town of Mildura on the Murray River. To get there from Melbourne usually involves a 6-hour drive or a small flight on a plane…
January 9, 2013