Liu v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd [2013] NSWSC 7

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Liu v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd [2013] NSWSC 7 Hearing dates: 6 August 2012 Decision date: 25 January 2013 Before: McCallum J Decision: Plaintiff's application dismissed with costs. Catchwords: DEFAMATION - defences - contextual truth - requirement that contextual imputation be conveyed in addition to plaintiff's imputations Legislation Cited: Defamation Act 2005 Cases Cited: Amalgamated Television Services Pty Ltd v Marsden (1998) 43 NSWLR 158 Ange v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd [2010] NSWSC 645 John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd v Jones [2004] NSWCA 205 Jones v Skelton [1963] 1 WLR 1362 Liu v Fairfax Media Publications [2011] NSWSC 612 Purcell v Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Pty Ltd [2003] NSWSC 245 Category: Interlocutory applications Parties: Eugene Liu (plaintiff) Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd (defendant) Representation: Counsel: MF Richardson (plaintiff) T Blackburn SC (defendant) Solicitors: Kennedys Australia (plaintiff) Johnson Winter & Slattery (defendant) File Number(s): 2010/350215 Publication restriction: None

Judgment 1HER HONOUR: These are proceedings for defamation arising out of the publication of two articles in the Sydney Morning Herald on 21 October 2009. I previously ruled on the capacity of the matters complained of to convey the imputations pleaded by the plaintiff: see Liu v Fairfax Media Publications [2011] NSWSC 612. The defendant has since filed a further amended defence which includes a plea of contextual truth under s 26 of the Defamation Act 2005. This judgment determines the plaintiff's objections to that pleading.