NSW Caselaw
New South Wales Supreme Court
CITATION : Zunter v John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd [2005] NSWSC 759
HEARING DATE(S) : 19 - 21 July 2005
JUDGMENT DATE : 2 August 2005
JUDGMENT OF : Simpson J
DECISION : (i) verdict for the plaintiff in the sum of $100,000; (ii) the defendant is to pay the plaintiff's costs of the proceedings.
CATCHWORDS : defamation - Sydney Morning Herald, 5-6 January 2002 - two imputations defamatory of plaintiff found, pursuant to Defamation Act s7A, to have been conveyed, and defamatory of the plaintiff - whether plaintiff is entitled to award of damages, and if so, in what amount - defence of qualified privilege (s22) - damages in respect of the publication interstate - interstate defences - whether defendant's conduct in publishing imputations was reasonable in the circumstances - proper journalistic practice - matter of public interest - defence of contextual truth - contextual imputations found to have been conveyed, and to be defamatory of the plaintiff - contextual imputations substantially true - the seriousness of each imputation pleaded by plaintiff balanced against seriousness of facts, matters and circumstances that establish the truth of the contextual imputations - reputation of plaintiff - assessment of compensatory damages - aggravated damages
Defamation Act 1974 (NSW), s7A, s16, s22, s46 Defamation Act 1889 (Qld), s16 LEGISLATION CITED : Defamation Act 1957 (Tas), s16 Rural Fires Act 1997 (NSW), s99
Advertiser-News Weekend Publishing Co Ltd v Manock [2005] SASC 82, unreported, 15 March 2005 Clark v Ainsworth (1996) 40 NSWLR 463 Cotter v John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd [2003] NSWSC 503, unreported, 22 July 2003 David Syme & Co Ltd v Hore-Lacy [2000] VSCA 24, unreported, 9 March 2000 Hepburn v TCN Channel Nine Pty Ltd [1984] 1 NSWLR 386 Jackson v John Fairfax and Sons Ltd [1981] 1 NSWLR 36 CASES CITED : John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd v Blake; David Syme & Co Ltd v Blake [2001] NSWCA 434; 53 NSWLR 541 John Fairfax & Sons Ltd & Anor v Vilo [2001] NSWCA 290; 52 NSWLR 373 Morgan v John Fairfax & Sons Ltd [No 2] (1991) 23 NSWLR 374 Polly Peck Holdings plc v Trelford [1986] QB 1000 Robinson v Laws [2001] QCA 122, unreported, 6 April 2001 Vilo v John Fairfax & Sons Ltd & Anor [2000] NSWSC 937, unreported, 6 October 2002 Waterhouse v Hickie (1995) Aust Torts Report 62,486 (81-347)
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