In airing a ‘7:30′ segment that revealed racehorses were being slaughtered in violation of industry rules, the ABC acted with malice in what was a “set up” designed to make the head of Racing NSW “look bad”, a court has heard.
An Australian mother who posted a viral video of her son, who suffers from achondroplasia dwarfism, following a bullying incident has hit the Daily Telegraph’s publisher with a defamation lawsuit over a reporter’s retweet of conspiracy theories that the video was a fake.
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.
Underworld figure Mick Gatto has been denied a trial by jury in his defamation proceedings against the ABC, with the judge-only hearing scheduled to start next week.
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”.
A judge has slammed a lawyer for her “abysmal arrogance and sense of privilege”, ordering her to pay $300,000 to her Balmain neighbour after a long-running property dispute culminated in a defamatory interview that was broadcast to over one million TV viewers on A Current Affair.
Former Liberal leader John Hewson has filed a defamation suit against Nine, claiming a report by A Current Affair about his insurance firm was gratuitous and “seriously dishonest”.
Daily Telegraph publisher Nationwide News has failed in its appeal of a judgment that found it defamed Geoffrey Rush in articles that accused the Oscar-winning actor of sexually inappropriate behaviour, with an appeals court describing the stories as a “sensationalised tabloid crusade”.
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.
A Federal Court judge overseeing Papua New Guinean Politician William Duma’s defamation lawsuit against Fairfax Media has said he would like to move case management hearings online permanently, saying the move to virtual courtrooms was one good that had resulted from the coronavirus pandemic.