Dutton v Bazzi [2021] FCA 1474

Federal Court of Australia

Dutton v Bazzi [2021] FCA 1474 File number: NSD 352 of 2021

Judgment of: WHITE J

Date of judgment: 24 November 2021

Catchwords: DEFAMATION – publication of a tweet with a hyperlink to an article – whether four imputations alleged by the Applicant were conveyed by the Tweet – consideration of the ordinary reasonable reader's understanding of the statement "the Applicant is a rape apologist" – imputation that the Applicant "excuses rape" found to be conveyed by the publication. DEFAMATION – defences – defence of honest opinion pursuant to s 31 of the Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) and the common law defence of fair comment on a matter of public interest – whether the impugned statement was a statement of fact or opinion – whether the opinion was based on proper material – whether the matters relied upon by the Respondent were referred to in the impugned matter or otherwise notorious – lack of rational relationship between the matters relied upon and the opinion the Respondent claimed to have held – whether the Applicant proved the Respondent did not honestly hold the opinion in the publication pursuant to s 31(4) of the Defamation Act. DAMAGES – s 34 of the Defamation Act – consideration of the relationship between the harm suffered by the Applicant and the damages to be awarded – the extent to which awards of damages in other cases should be considered – consideration of the extent of the publication – claim for aggravated damages rejected. DEFAMATION – remedies – claim for injunctions to restrain the Respondent permanently from publishing the impugned matter and the imputations the Court has found to be conveyed in the publication – claims for injunctions rejected.