Author adminPosted on Categories Defamation 1 Comment on Moira Deeming wins defamation claim against John Pesutto
Victorian MP Moira Deeming has won her defamation claim against Liberal leader John Pesutto with an award of $300,000 in damages.
The rally
Moira Deeming, a First-term Liberal MP attended and was one of a series of speakers at a rally held on the steps of Victoria’s parliament in March 2023.
The rally was co-organised by the UK gender-critical activist Kellie-Jay Keen, as part of Keen’s “Let Women Speak” tour of Australia and New Zealand last year, which held rallies in several cities about how the push for transgender rights was negatively impacting women. The rally was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis, who performed the Sieg Heil salute on the front steps of parliament.
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Author adminPosted on Categories Defamation Leave a comment on Bruce Lehrmann ordered to largely pay indemnity costs
In the saga that never ends, the Honourable Justice Lee handed down his costs judgment after a marathon defamation trial where Bruce Lehrmann lost his defamation claim. His Federal Court of Australia claim was dismissed, because, on the balance of probabilities, it was found that he had raped Brittany Higgins. But the qualified privilege defence failed.
In the words of Justice Lee:
“The result is best characterised as the respondents overcoming a misconceived claim in relation to a broadcast because they were able to prove at trial the substantial truth of what the contemporaneous material demonstrates they considered to be the less substantial allegation made in the broadcast.”
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Author adminPosted on Categories civil litigation, Judiciary 1 Comment on High Court elects to hear Judge Vasta judicial immunity case
In 2021, Judge Vasta was sued for false imprisonment after he jailed a litigant for contempt when no such finding against him had been made. For Judge Vasta and the state of Queensland, it was contended that the doctrine of judicial immunity meant that the claim could not succeed.
Last year, Wigney J of the Federal Court found for the imprisoned man, holding that judicial immunity did not apply for a number of reasons, including that Judge Vasta was an inferior Court judge who had acted beyond jurisdiction. Unsurprisingly, an appeal was subsequently lodged.
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