Moloney v Bales and Anor [2002] NSWSC 381

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : Moloney v Bales and Anor [2002] NSWSC 381 CURRENT JURISDICTION: Common Law FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 20368 of 2001 HEARING DATE(S) : 21 March 2002 JUDGMENT DATE : 3 May 2002

TERENCE VINCENT MOLONEY (Plaintiff)

v PARTIES : KEITH BALES (First Defendant)

NATIONWIDE NEWS PTY LTD (Second Defendant) JUDGMENT OF : Levine J

B McClintock SC (Plaintiff) COUNSEL : T Blackburn (Defendants) Bush Burke & Company (Plaintiff)

SOLICITORS : Parry Carroll Kanjian (First Defendant)

Blake Dawson Waldron (Second Defendant) CATCHWORDS : Imputations - capacity - difference in substance CASES CITED : Amalgamated Television Services Pty Ltd v Marsden (1998) NSWLR 158 DECISION : See paragraph 28

DJL:1 [2002] NSWSC 381

N THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COMMON LAW DIVISION DFAMATION list

JUSTICE DAVID LEVINE

FRIDAY 3 MAY 2002

20368 OF 2001 TERENCE VINCENT MOLONEY (Plaintiff)

v

KEITH BALES (First Defendant)

NATIONWIDE NEWS PTY LTD (Second Defendant)

JUDGMENT (Imputations – capacity – difference in substance)

1 The plaintiff, who at all material times was the director of ABC Enterprises, sues the defendant for damages for defamation.

2 The first publication sued upon was in "The Weekend Australian" 18-19 November 2000. The text of that article is appended hereto as appendix A. The second defendant is sued as a publisher and republisher and the first defendant (Mr Bales) is sued in respect of the words attributed to him in the matter complained of. In respect of both publications the plaintiff contends that the relevant matters complained of carry the following defamatory imputations: "4 & 8(a) The plaintiff is so lacking in business ability that he should be sacked as head of ABC Enterprises. (b) The plaintiff is so resistant to market forces that he should be sacked as head of ABC Enterprises. (c) The plaintiff is incompetent in his role as head of ABC Enterprises in that he is not a proactive deal-maker. (d) The plaintiff is incapable of properly managing a business such as ABC Enterprises.