Visscher v Maritime Union of Australia (No 6) [2014] NSWSC 350

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Visscher v Maritime Union of Australia (No 6) [2014] NSWSC 350 Hearing dates: 21 to 25 October, 28 October, 4 November and 6 November 2013. Decision date: 31 March 2014 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Beech-Jones J Decision: 1. The plaintiff to file a further amended statement of claim in accordance with [258] of these reasons within seven days. 2. Pursuant to s 136 of the Evidence Act 1995, that the use of the evidence at the following parts of the transcript be restricted to proving the fact of the communication referred to and not the truth of what was asserted, namely T367.13, T383.3 to .6, and T462.46. 3. Judgment for the plaintiff against the defendant in the sum of $90,000.00. Catchwords: DEFAMATION - statements said to have published by the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) - Bureau of Meteorology forecasts - severe weather conditions - ship master's discretion -"Cyclone Response Plan" -existence of "contingency plan" - "Job Hazard Analysis" (JHA) - impact of "storm surge" - expert report on behaviour of tropical cyclones - no expert evidence to support questions regarding Cyclone Response Plan.

DEFAMATION - publication - MUA and Cootamundara Herald online articles - "bilateral" nature of publications - utterance comprehended by reader, listener or observer - publication of someone else's defamatory statement by use of a hyperlink - responsibility of person approving, adopting or promoting the defamatory statement of another - "shallow" or "deep" hyperlinks - Crookes v Newton [2011] 3 SCR 269 - MUA responsible for publication of Cootamundara Herald article.