Media companies that are fighting defamation proceedings over articles that accused decorated war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith of war crimes have won court permission to amend their defence to include evidence the soldier was involved in another alleged murder.
Venture capitalist Elaine Stead has refused to go into a second round of mediation in her defamation case against the Nine-owned Fairfax Media Publications saying it would be a “waste of time”.
After claiming he could be vindicated only by giving evidence in open court, war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith looks likely to get his wish, as the parties to his defamation proceedings finalise negotiations with the Federal Government on the use of national security information.
The media companies fighting a defamation lawsuit brought by decorated war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith has accused the former soldier of involvement in two more alleged murders while on duty in Afghanistan, taking the total to seven alleged killings in which he is said to be involved.
A last-minute bid by the Federal Attorney-General to protect national security information has delayed an interlocutory hearing in war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation lawsuit, potentially pushing out the trial date.
War veteran Ben Roberts-Smith has told a judge hearing defamation proceedings against several media companies over articles accusing him of war crimes that he can only be vindicated if he is allowed to give evidence in open court, as the Federal Government seeks to impose restrictions on the case due to national security concerns.
The six-week trial in four defamation cases brought by war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith has been pushed off because of restrictions on in-person hearings and the Attorney-General’s decision to invoke national security law and cloak the proceedings in secrecy.
A Sydney rabbi who told the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse that he did not know touching a child’s genitals was a crime has lost a defamation case against SBS and the Murdoch-owned Nationwide News, with the NSW Supreme Court finding that the media “accurately reported” the rabbi’s own words.
Defending a defamation case brought by the head of a group of gay ‘pups’, Network Ten has argued that a report about an Australian man who died from genital silicone injections was substantially true and in the public interest.
The head of a group of gay ‘pups’ suing for defamation over a Network Ten report investigating the death of his partner from silicone genital injections has told the Federal Court that he was “forced out” of a senior position at Google as a result of the broadcast.