Parnell v Harbour Radio Pty Ltd [2018] NSWDC 123

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Parnell v Harbour Radio Pty Ltd [2018] NSWDC 123 Hearing dates: 14 May 2018 Date of orders: 14 May 2018 Decision date: 15 May 2018 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Gibson DCJ Decision: (1) Grant leave to the defendant to file a Further Amended Defence in court to include a defence under s 26 Defamation Act 2005 (NSW), subject to the following provisos: (a) The plaintiff is entitled to "plead back" the contextual imputations set out in paragraph 8(e) of the Defence; (b) The defendant's present intention to reclaim the proposed new imputations, if proved true, may be argued at the trial (as to which see Fairfax Digital Australia and New Zealand Pty Ltd v Kazal [2018] NSWCA 77) but is not the subject of any expressed ruling or exception by the court. (2) The plaintiff's Further Amended Statement of Claim pleading back the said imputations is to be filed by 4:00pm Wednesday 16 May 2018. (3) Note the parties agreed that the defence of honest opinion pursuant to s 31 Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) must be pleaded to the publications and not the imputations. (4) Plaintiff's application for the defendant to "identify the expression of opinion relied upon in each broadcast" is dismissed. (5) Costs of the application reserved to the trial judge. (6) Matter stood over to the Defamation List on Thursday 17 May 2018. Catchwords: TORT – defamation – defence of honest opinion – obligation to provide particulars of the defence – whether a defendant is obliged to identify the expression of opinion relied upon in each of the publications sued upon Legislation Cited: Defamation Act 1974 (NSW) Defamation Act 2005 (NSW), ss 26 and 31 Cases Cited: Channel Seven Adelaide Pty Ltd v Manock (2007) 232 CLR 245 Cunningham-Howie v F W Dimbleby & Sons Ltd [1951] 1 KB 360 Harbour Radio Pty Ltd v Ahmed (2015) 90 NSWLR 695 Kazal v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd [2017] NSWSC 44 O'Brien v Australian Broadcasting Corporation [2017] NSWCA 338 O'Brien v Australian Broadcasting Corporation [2016] NSWSC 1289 Prowse v Harbour Radio Pty Ltd [2016] NSWSC 57 Radio 2UE Sydney Pty Ltd v Parker (1992) 29 NSWLR 448 Sims v Wran [1984] 1 NSWLR 317 Tabbaa v Nine Network Pty Ltd (No 10) [2018] NSWSC 468 Texts Cited: R. E. Brown, Brown on Defamation (Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, United States), Second Edition (formerly The Law of Defamation in Canada) (2nd ed., Thomson Reuters, Canada) Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Plaintiff: Jeff Parnell Defendant: Harbour Radio Pty Ltd Representation: Counsel: Plaintiff: Mr C A Evatt / Mr R Rasmussen Defendant: Mr M Richardson