Fairfax Media

It was common knowledge that SAS soldiers sought the retraction of a “bulls–t” commendation awarded to war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith for acts of bravery in Afghanistan in 2012, a trial in a defamation case against Fairfax has heard.

Eight rounds of ammunition were unloaded into the chest, neck and face of an Afghan man after decorated war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith told a subordinate to, “Shoot him or I will”, a court has heard.

Trial plans in accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation case against Nine have hit another roadblock because of COVID-19 restrictions, less than two weeks before the hearing is set to resume, with the media giant now suggesting a move to Western Australia.

A Fairfax journalist and his employer have been ordered to pay $400,000 for making “baseless” accusations of fraud and unethical market manipulation against the co-founder of an Australian blockchain-based energy trading platform.

Former Liberal power broker Marcus Bastiaan has told a court he will seek an injunction to prevent investigative journalist Nick McKenzie from “door-knocking and harassing” witnesses in a defamation lawsuit over an explosive 60 Minutes report.

Media giant Nine has defended reporting that allegedly implied former Victorian Liberal party vice president Marcus Bastiaan engaged in illegal branch stacking, arguing the coverage was justified and that federal assistant treasurer Michael Sukkar was in on the scheme.

Nine subsidiary Fairfax Media has agreed to pay compensation to a Papua New Guinea politician who sued the publisher for defamation for allegedly engaging in a “smear campaign”, with a judge making an order of compensation despite a “ludicrous” objection from Fairfax.

Liberal MP Christian Porter has won his bid to block Nine and News Corp from using secret portions of ABC’s defence to his defamation allegations that the media giants accessed as intervenors in the former Attorney-General’s case.

A Gold Coast developer must re-plead allegations in a defamation lawsuit against Fairfax over an article alleging he met a former Ipswich mayor at a brothel, after a judge struck out several claims that he described as “spectacularly imaginative and utterly unreasonable”.

Liberal MP Christian Porter has asked a court to ensure Nine and News Corp. do not use secret portions of ABC’s defence to his defamation allegations, which the media giants accessed as intervenors in the former federal Attorney-General’s case.