King and Anor v Greenwood [2021] NSWDC 228

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: King and Anor v Greenwood [2021] NSWDC 228 Hearing dates: 03 June 2021 Date of orders: 03 June 2021 Decision date: 03 June 2021 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Gibson DCJ Decision: Orders: (1) Time for the defendant to file a defence extended from 20 May 2021 to Monday 14 June 2021. (2) Matter stood over to the Defamation List for directions Thursday 17 June 2021 at 9am, on which date the plaintiffs propose to seek a Self–Executing Order if no defence has been filed. (3) The plaintiff is to notify the defendant of these orders by email by 5pm today. (4) Costs reserved. Notice of Motion Orders: By way of an interlocutory injunction and until further orders, and upon provisions by the plaintiffs of the usual undertaking as to damages, pursuant to section 46(1) of the District Court Act 1973 (NSW): (1) The defendant be restrained by himself, his servants or agents, from publishing or causing to be published the first matter complained of, namely the Facebook post, "Tayloring Your Political Bribes", or matters substantially to the same effect as such matter on the worldwide web (including Facebook and YouTube) or otherwise. (2) The defendant is restrained from publishing on the worldwide web or otherwise any matter of and concerning the plaintiffs to the same effect as the imputations contained in the Statement of Claim and set out below: a) The first plaintiff has made monetary bribes to an elected Commonwealth of Australia Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament, The Honourable Angus Taylor MP, for the first plaintiff's own personal advantage; b) The first plaintiff has made monetary bribes to an elected Commonwealth of Australia Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament, The Honourable Angus Taylor MP, to improperly precure, by deception, Federal Government grant schemes that would financially benefit the first plaintiff's company; c) The first plaintiff has committed serious and indictable criminal offences by giving a monetary bribe to an elected Member of Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia; d) The first plaintiff has been the recipient of illegally obtained funds from taxpayers of the Commonwealth of Australia; e) The first plaintiff has deceptively attempted to influence the election result of the Federal District of Hume, during the 2019 Federal Election; f) The first plaintiff conspired with the second plaintiff to deceptively attempt to influence the election result of the Federal District of Hume, during the 2019 Federal Election; g) The first plaintiff published a news article on the front page of LatteLife Wingecarribee newspaper that had fabricated information against a political candidate running for the Federal District of Hume, during the 2019 Federal Election; h) The first plaintiff has engaged in illegal and/or corrupt actions and/or business practices on previous occasions; i) The second plaintiff has made monetary bribes to an elected Commonwealth of Australia Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament, The Honourable Angus Taylor MP, for the second plaintiff's own personal advantage; j) The second plaintiff has made monetary bribes to an elected Commonwealth of Australia Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament, The Honourable Angus Taylor MP, to improperly precure, by deception, Federal Government grant schemes that would financially benefit the second plaintiff's company; k) The second plaintiff has committed serious and indictable criminal offences by giving a monetary bribe to an elected Member of Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia; l) The second plaintiff has been the recipient of illegally obtained money from taxpayers of the Commonwealth of Australia; m) The second plaintiff has deceptively attempted to influence the election result of the Federal District of Hume, during 2019 Federal Election. n) The second plaintiff has engaged in illegal and/or corrupt actions and/or business practices on previous occasions. o) 48 hours after service of these orders, the defendant take all reasonable steps to remove forthwith from the worldwide web (including Facebook) all matter that he has published, posted or uploaded concerning the plaintiffs to the same effect as the imputations set out in order 2(a) to 2(n) above. (3) Both the plaintiff and the court will notify the defendant of these orders by service on the defendant at the email address of [redacted] by 5pm today. (4) Costs reserved. (5) Any application to set aside these orders must be by Notice of Motion supported by affidavit evidence, returnable for next directions hearing on 17 June 2021. Catchwords: DEFAMATION – interlocutory injunctions – defendant continues to publish matter concerning the plaintiff after proceedings commenced and an application for interlocutory injunctive relief is made – defendant fails to file defence or attend court to oppose the making of the orders – application for interlocutory injunction concerning the first matter complained of granted. Legislation Cited: Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 (NSW) s 19 District Court Act 1973 (NSW) s 46 Cases Cited: ABC v O'Neill (2006) 227 CLR 57 Allan v The Migration Institute of Australia Ltd [2012] NSWSC 965 Doe v Dowling [2017] NSWSC 1793 Kolback Securities Ltd v Epoch Mining NL (1987) 8 NSWLR 533 Category: Procedural rulings Parties: Plaintiffs: First plaintiff: Cristian Alexander King Second plaintiff: Jane Margaret King Defendant: Adam Haig Greenwood Representation: Plaintiffs: Self-represented Defendant: Self-represented File Number(s): 2021/0063201 Publication restriction: Nil