Victorian Liberal Party leader John Pesutto has settled two defamation lawsuits by organisers of the ‘Let Women Speak Rally’ and apologised for conflating them with neo-Nazis who crashed the event, saying his comments “could have more clearly differentiated between the groups”.
Network Ten has largely succeeded in its bid for indemnity costs against Bruce Lehrmann for his failed defamation case over allegations he raped former colleague Brittany Higgins in Parliament House, allegations the broadcaster proved at trial were true.
Bruce Lehrmann had no behind-the-scenes financial backer for his failed and costly defamation case against Network Ten but had entered a no win, no fee arrangement with his solicitors, a court has heard.
Counsel for independent Sydney member Alex Greenwich has raised concerns about livestreaming the trial in his defamation case against former NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham after witnessing the “astonishing” and “very disturbing” social media commentary during the Bruce Lehrmann trial.
International fugitive Jean Nassif, who headed troubled property developer Toplace, has lost his bid to reinstate defamation proceedings against Harbour Radio and 2GB host Ray Hadley, with a judge saying there was no evidence he would return to Australia to prosecute the case.
The judge overseeing Bruce Lehrmann’s failed defamation case against Network Ten has slammed as misleading comments that his judgment vindicated the broadcaster, and questioned whether the remarks disentitled it to maximum defence costs.
Bruce Lehrmann has been given extra time to file any appeal of a ruling he raped colleague Brittany Higgins but in the meantime the former political staffer must hand over information on who funded his defamation case against Network Ten, which is likely to see him on the hook for millions of dollars in costs.
The rape of former political staffer Brittany Higgins has spawned yet another defamation action, this one by federal police officers who investigated her assault claims against Bruce Lehrmann in 2021.
Brittany Higgins’ partner David Sharaz has dropped his defence in a defamation case brought by Senator Linda Reynolds over social media posts that allegedly implied the former Defence Minister pressured Higgins not to pursue a complaint against rapist Bruce Lehrmann.
Sydney barrister Gina Edwards has been awarded $150,000 in damages in her defamation case over Channel Nine’s coverage of her battle for custody of famed social media pooch Oscar the cavoodle, with a judge finding she relied on a bad legal advice from a fellow barrister and genuinely believed she was Oscar’s co-owner.