Peter Gray

Racing NSW CEO Peter V’landys AM has failed in his bid to have the High Court take up his challenge to an appeals court ruling that found an ABC report on the killing of racehorses was not defamatory despite not being high quality journalism.

The Victorian government has elevated an Associate Justice who has overseen class actions and a senior counsel who assisted the Victorian royal commission into Crown Resorts to serve as judges on the Supreme Court of Victoria. 

Racing NSW CEO Peter V’landys AM has failed to revive his defamation case against the ABC over a 7:30 segment that revealed racehorses were being killed in violation of industry rules, despite the appeals court noting that the report “treated him very shabbily” and “was not high quality journalism.”

Nine-owned Fairfax Media has been ordered to pay a $545,000 to a Papua New Guinea politician who sued the publisher for defamation over a series of articles published in the Australian Financial Review, which a judge found were “replete with errors and misrepresentations.”

From the ongoing saga of the high-profile Christian Porter action against the ABC to “backyard” litigation testing the serious harm bar, defamation cases made headlines in 2022, with winners and losers alike shelling out millions to lawyers to protect their reputations.

The state of Western Australia has been left with a $2 million legal bill for defending a defamation action  by billionaire Clive Palmer and advancing cross-claims on behalf of premier Mark McGowan, which a judge blasted as “a futile exercise”.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has dropped a High Court appeal seeking to overturn a Full Court judgment that found a tweet by refugee activist Shane Bazzi labeling him a “rape apologist” was not defamatory.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has questioned a costs agreement between refugee activist Shane Bazzi and his solicitors in a defamation dispute, raising the possibility that “sham bills” may have been provided to the court to assess the costs to which Bazzi is entitled for his successful appeal.

A court has awarded Western Australia premier Mark McGowan and mining billionaire Clive Palmer paltry sums in their defamation battle, with a judge finding that Palmer suffered “very little damage” to his reputation.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has asked the High Court to overturn an appeals court judgment that found a tweet labelling him a “rape apologist” was not defamatory.