Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: McLachlan v Browne & Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd; McLachlan v Brown & Australian Broadcasting Corporation (No 2) [2018] NSWSC 829 Hearing dates: 18 May 2018 Decision date: 18 May 2018 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: McCallum J Decision: Extend the time within which the defendants are to comply with order (3) made in each proceeding on 16 March 2018 to 24 May 2018; defendants to pay the plaintiff's costs of preparing for and appearing today Catchwords: PROCEDURE – application to extend time for filing defence – no question of principle Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Proceedings 2018/34244: Craig McLachlan (plaintiff) Christie Whelan Browne (first defendant) Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd (second defendant) Proceedings 2018/34257 Craig McLachlan (plaintiff) Christie Whelan Browne (first defendant) Australian Broadcasting Corporation (second defendant) Representation: Counsel: M Richardson (plaintiff) L Barnett (first and second defendants in both proceedings) Solicitors: Mark O'Brien Legal (plaintiff) Banki Haddock Fiora (1st defendant in both proceedings and 2nd defendant in 2018/34244 proceedings) ABC Legal & Business Affairs (2nd defendant in 2018/34257 proceedings) File Number(s): 2018/342442018/34257 Publication restriction: None Judgment – EX TEMPORE 1. HER HONOUR: These are proceedings for defamation commenced by Mr Craig McLachlan following the publication of articles about him in early January 2018. The proceedings have been re-listed today at the request of the defendants because they are in default of the Court's orders as to the filing of defences. 2. The proceedings were commenced on 1 February 2018. The first listing was on 16 March 2018. On that date, in each proceeding, the Court directed the defendants to file and serve their defence by 4 May 2018. An extension is sought to allow until 1 June 2018 for that to occur. 3. The defendants have put on affidavits explaining the steps that have been taken towards preparing defences and those matters have been addressed orally by Ms Barnett, who appears for the defendants. 4. For his part, the plaintiff has relied on an affidavit of Mr O'Brien, his solicitor, setting out the chronology of the proceedings to date and the anxiety suffered by the plaintiff while he awaits receipt of the delayed defences. 5. Mr Richardson, who appears for the plaintiff, has indicated that he would not oppose an order allowing the defendants until next Thursday to file their overdue defences on the basis that the matter would be listed next Friday for the defendants to show cause, if that has not occurred, why the matter should not proceed as if it were undefended. The plaintiff, however, opposes the extension sought until 1 June. 6. An aspect of the submissions put on behalf of the defendants that troubles me is that part of the explanation for the time taken suggests that the defence will include particulars of truth of imputations and proposed contextual imputations which, on the strength of what was said, may go well beyond the relatively limited scope of the matters reported in the articles. 7. Mindful of my obligations under the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), I am of the view that the position proposed on behalf of the plaintiff is reasonable and that those are the orders I should make. Orders 1. I extend the time within which the defendants are to comply with order (3) made in each proceeding on 16 March 2018 to 24 May 2018. 2. I stand the proceedings over to 25 May 2018 at 9.30am. 3. I order the defendants to pay the plaintiff's costs of preparing for and appearing today. ********** DISCLAIMER - Every effort has been made to comply with suppression orders or statutory provisions prohibiting publication that may apply to this judgment or decision. The onus remains on any person using material in the judgment or decision to ensure that the intended use of that material does not breach any such order or provision. Further enquiries may be directed to the Registry of the Court or Tribunal in which it was generated. Decision last updated: 06 June 2018