Defamation

Embattled Sydney accountant Vanda Gould has lost his defamation case against the Commissioner of Taxation, with a court finding Chris Jordan’s defamatory comments constituted a “robust”, but proportional, counter-attack to Gould’s public disparagement of the Australian Tax Office.

Christian Porter and silk Sue Chrysanthou are fighting a $550,000 legal bill of Jo Dyer, a friend of the woman who accused Porter of rape, after she succeeded in having the barrister removed from the former attorney-general’s defamation lawsuit against the ABC.

A plastic surgeon followed by more than 5 million TikTok users has lost an urgent bid to block the ABC from airing an episode of Four Corners about him next Monday.

The CEO and founder of Euro Pacific Bank, Peter Schiff, has launched a defamation lawsuit against the Nine Network over a 60 Minutes episode that allegedly implied he “facilitated the theft of millions of dollars from the Australian people” by assisting customers to commit offshore tax fraud.

The federal government has shot down a Labor push for the privileges committee to examine former Attorney-General Christian Porter after he refused to reveal information about an anonymous donor that covered a portion of his costs in defamation proceedings against the ABC.

Former Attorney-General Christian Porter wants to rely on new evidence relating to former Solicitor-General Justin Gleeson SC as he appeals the removal of his high profile silk from a now settled defamation case against the ABC over its coverage of historical rape allegations.

A judge has adjourned trial in the defamation case by accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith to early 2022, saying relocation was not practical after COVID-19 restrictions prevented Fairfax’s witnesses travelling to Sydney.

Defence minister Peter Dutton has given evidence of his “hurt” at trial in a defamation case over a tweet accusing him of being a rape apologist, while the judge presiding over the hearing has warned lawyers for the tweeter to act as solicitors not “supporters”.

Former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith is fighting to shield medical records Fairfax says should be made public to “safeguard open justice”, as trial in his defamation case against the publisher faces further delay due to COVID-19 border restrictions.

A judge has spoken of his personal challenge as an “older, white male” in deciding the objective meaning of racism in Nine Network sports reporter Erin Molan’s defamation case, and said the matter would have been worthy of a trial by jury.