^

,

,,

CAVANA. GII V N. in. NEWS SBRVTCES LTID and PERRON

Supreme Court of the Northern Territory of AUSt, ,aLi. a

Rice a'.

2 to 1.2 JULY, 9 to 1.3 December, 23 December 1985 and26 May 1,989 at Darwin

DBF'AMA. TTON - cl. ai. in and counterc, .at. inoffi. ci. aJ. . - defendants, newspaper and Government Treasurer -defences of fatr comment and quaJ. i. f, .ed prtvil. eqe andstatutory fair comment - cl. ai. in d, .sini. ssed - damages forslander on counter-claim - foreseeabl. e potenti. al. of wi. aeai. ssemi. nat, .on by radio journal. i. st.

Cases fo, .lowed s

Cam bel. I. v Associ. .ated News a ers (1948) 48 SR msW) 301at 304

Hawke v mainwo, ,th News a ex's Coat 704

John Fai. I:'fax & Sons Ltd v Hook & Anor (,. 983) 47 AT, R 477at 481

Or, : v Tsl. es (1965) 83 un (Pt. 1.1 (IISW) 303 at 320PI:' ke & Ors v Advert, .se, : News a e, r T. ,. ini. tea & Ors (1984)

37 SASR 1.75 at 1.9, .

Statutes g

plainti. ff uni. on

Defamation Act s. 6, 6A, 8 and 9

Counsel. for the PI. a^. nti. ffsSOLi. ci. to, r for the PI. at. nti. ffs

Counse, . for the 1st DefendantsSolicitor for the 1st Defendant=

Counsel. ^or the 2nd Defendantg

SOLi. ci. tor for the 2nd Defendants

Li. mited (1983) I IISWLR 699

ri. o880013

J. R . Water's

Water's James O'Nei. I.

a'. a. CamseyWard Rel. ,. e, :

T. T. Paul. inq Q. C.and T. Ri. I. eyDav, .. d Wi. riter

* A

THE SriPRE:ME COURT

OF THE NORTHERN TBRRTTORY

OF AUSTRALTA

No. 536 of 1982

BETWEEN=

CORAM= R, .ce a'.

BARRYMORE PREDERTCl<

JAMES CAVANAGH

AND:

inh, .s is an act, .on invol. vi. rig a c, .. atin against both

defendants and a counter-cLai. .in by the second defendant

against the plat. nti. ff for damages for defamation. At all

material. times the PI. ai. nt^. ff was an Tndustri. al. Officer

empLoyed by the Northern merrttory Branch of the

Adm, .ni. stirati. ve and Cl. e, ,i. .cal. Offi. cers' Associ. atton ("ACOA"),

the fi. r'st defendant was the publ. isher of a newspaper known

as "The Northern Tel:'I:',. to, :y News" ("N. in. News") and the

second defendant was Treasurer in the Government of the

Northern inert',. tory of AUSt, :aji. a.

NORTHERN TBRRTTORY NEWS

Plaintiff

SBRVTCES T, TMTTED

AND=

(delivered 26 May, 1989)REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

MARSHALL PERRON

First Defendant

Second Defendant

, .

the al. Legati. ons of aefamati. .on, i. .t i. s necessary to set out

var:. ous documents ,. n the order in which they emerqed.

Tn order, more readily, to appreciate the nature of

of the PI. ai. nti. ff dated 25 October 1,982 enti. tl. ed "ACOA

Newsl. etter" (Exhi. bi. t P8) s-

Pi. rst of al. I. , there was a document under the hand

"PROPOSED 11. in. SUPERANNUATTOtl SCHEME

ME^TTNG OF MEMBERS

Wednesday, 3rd November in Lines 1.2.1.5 pm PI. acesDates

Audi. tori. urn, Dai:'wi. n Workers CTub Coinp, .ex.Please enter from Austin Lane

Tt i. s the stated ,. ritent, .on of the Northern inert. ,. toryGovernment that its proposed Superannuati. on Scheme forNorthern merr, .to, :y PubLtc Servants wtl. I. be passed duringthe November sitt, .rigs of the Legi. .SLati. ve Assembly.

The Association i, s now ,. n possess, .on of a f, .nal. draftBi. 1.1. and attached to thi. s ci. .reuLar ,. s as much relevant

i. nfo, ,mati. on as the assoc, .atton i. s abl. e to gather wi. thregard, both to the content of the Bi. ,.,. and itscoinpari. son wi. th the Commonweal. th Superannuati. on Scheme,and, the background wh, .ch makes i. t, apparent, .y,necessary for the N. in. Government to i. ntroduce its ownSuperannuatton Scheme, notw, .. thstand, .rig the guaranteeswh, .ch tt and the F'rase, : government, as well. as thevari. ous Commonweal. th Departments, gave at the t, .me ofsei. f-government.

The assoc, .. at, .on i, s aware that the Northern TerritoryGovernment i. s anxious to secure a firm Commonweal. th

commitment in the form of enabl. ,. rig legi. SLati. on to allowthem to introduce thei. ,: own Superannuation Scheme as amatter of u, : enc .

yet ,. ntroduced Legtsl. atton whi. ch the Department ofFinance officers i. natcate i, s not a necessary condi. ti. onprecedent to the estab, .i. shinent. of the N. in. Scheme. Tt

is quite PI. a, .n that the viab, .. 1.5. ty of the NorthernTerritory Scheme w, .,. I. be substanti. all. y infl. uenced by thewill. trigness of the Commonweal. th to set transfer valuesi. n respect of past selfvi. ce and deterini. ne arrangements

The Commonweal. th Government has not

2

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for transference of superannuation fund i. nvestment trustcontributors funds sati. sfactory to the NorthernTerritory Government.

Tt appears that, i. n SImpl. e terms, enabLi. rig Legi. SIat, .onwi. .,. I. provi. ae for transfers of contri. butors on thetermi. .nat, .on of membershi. p of a commonweal. th fund ofpersons who take up membership of another superannuationscheme run by a statutory authori. ty. This arranqementwould be si. ini. Tar to that for which Commonweal. thLegi. SLati. on has been ^. ntroduced in relation to in. A. A.

The question to be deterin, .ned by ACOA members i's ,. f theassoci. atton shou, .d, and ,. f practi. cal. the A. C. T. U. ,resist the passage of Legi. SLati. on which wi. 1.1. coinpul. sory(si. c) transfer members from the Commonwea, .thSuperannuat, .on scheme to the Northern Tel:'r, .tory scheme.Perhaps ,. t i, s suf^i. .ci. ent to press merel. y for honoring ofthe PI:'i. me litntsters cominttrnent that member's transferredto the Northern inert. i. tory Publ. ,. c Se, =v, .ce and/orauthori. t, .es wi. 1.1. be enti. t, .ed to conti. nue membershi. p ofthe Commonweal. th Superannuation Scheme. The Brad, .eyComintttee enqui. ri. rig i. nto AUStra, .i. a Post, i. n ,. tsreferences to the A. P. Superannuati. on commitmentrecommended the establ. ishment of a separate scheme forAUStra, .Ia Post empl. oyees but coneeded an enti. t, .ement forexisttrig empl. oyees to stay in the Commonwea, .thSuperannuati. on Scheme.

Tn order to provi. ae background as well. as coinpar, .sons ofthe two schemes the attachment I to this CLI:'CUI. ar i. s asummary of ev, .dence qi. ven by the Department of Pi. nanceto the Senate Standing Committee on Pi. nance andGovernment Operations on the 2nd JULy 1982.

The Coinm, .ttee, whose Chat, :man ,. s Senator I^ae at. soussedseveral. aspects of the Northern inert'i. toI:'y Authori. ti. es.

Mr Searson and Ms Penwi. .ok ,. n repl. y to quest, .ons stated8

'Tf the current actual rev, .ews for those author, .ti. espayi. rig 1.5^ show they shoul. a have been paying 20^, thearrears plus triterest WILL have to be pa, .a by (SLc. )the CommonweaLth - the mechantsm of payment i, s notsettl. ed yet3 i. t cou, .d be by Lump sum, al. ternattvel. yby an i. ncrease ,. n cont. ,, i. butt. on rate. '

Tn response to questi. oning i. n the Legi. SLat^. ve AssembLy,auri. rig the October SLtti. rigs, the Treasurer admi. tted thatthe Northern Territory Government has not forwarded anyemployer contri. buti. on to the Commonwea, .th since theestabli. shinent of sei. f-government i. n 1,978. Further,there has not been any provi. s, .on made to hold these

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From thi. s, it i, s reasonabl. e to assumemontes in trust.

that the Northern inert. i. tory Gove^,,, lent coul. a face aLarge empLoye, , contr, .button requirement for itsemployees who are members of the Commonweal. thSuperannuat, .on Scheme.

This failure to adequately and responsi. bl. y provi. ae fori. ts I. tabi. 1.5. ty for N. in. Government emp, .oyees appears tobe the bastc inoti. vati. rig force beh, .rid the N. in.Government's desi. re to go back on its promises to its

That is,employees at the ti. me of sei. f-government.that they woul. a be el. i. gi. bl. e to reinai. n ,. n theCommonweal. th Superannuation Scheme.

There are a number of attachments to this CLI:. CUI. ar which

deal. wi. th the sections of the proposed 11. in. Scheme whi. chhave been of concern to member's throughout the 1.2 monthsthat negot^. attons have been taki. rig place.

Attachment 2 sets out the exact wording of di. vision 8 -Lump Sum Benefi. ts, of the Act (Secti. ons 7? and 731.The schedul. es IT & 1.2 referred to i. n the secti. ons

comprise part of the attachment.

Attachment 3 i. s a coinpar, .son of lump sum payments whichwou, .d app, .y to empl. oyees on certai. n N. in. sal. ary Level. s,under the proposed Northern Terr, .to, :y Scheme, theexisting Queens, .and scheme and existi. rig New South Wal. es

Members will. note that Northern Tet'ri. toryscheme .

Government emp, .oyees run Last tn each coinpari. son.

Other attachments are3

The case ,. n favour of acceptance preparedAttachment 4 -

by ACOA Execut^. ve Member CharLi. e a'effr, .es

Superanrillati. on Board

Attachment 6 - Tnvestment of Trust Fund

Attachment 5

Attachment 7 - Revi. ew of Decisions of the Board

Attachment 8 - Preservati. on of Benef, .ts

(sgd. ) Barry CavanaqhTndust. ri. a, . Offi. cer"

(Attachments not reproduced. )

..

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a. in. and aqa, .n at '6-25 a. in. and 7-25 a. in. on I November

1982, whi. ch was based on a transcri. .pt (Exhi. bit PIO) the

Then followed a broadcast over ABC Radio at 5-15

contents of which weres-

"Members of the Admin, .. strati. ve and Cl. ex'ICa, . Offi. cers'

Assoc, .ati. on i. n DARWTN WILL meet on Wednesday to discussthe proposed superannuati. on scheme for Territory Pub, .i. cServants .

The Government intends to pass the necessary legi. SLati. onauri. rig the November s5. tti. .rigs of the Legi. SLat, .veAssembly, but the A. C. 0. A. execut, .ve i. s bitterI. y opposedto the scheme.

The uni. on' s Tndust, :i. al. Officer, Mr. Bar, ,y CAVANAGH, sai. aLast night that the on, .y thi. rig he wouLd be prepared toaccept was a situation whereby the Territory schemewoul. d be ava^.,. abl. e to new members of the inert'i. to, ,yPubl. i. c Sex. vi. ce, and anybody who in, .ght wish to swi. tchfrom the AUSt, :aLi. an Government scheme.

Mr. CAVANAGH said the Government had been dishonest

about i. ts i. ritenti. ons, and he accused i. t of hav, .rig beeni. r, :esponsi. bl. e in not meet, .rig its cottoni. tinents to theCommonwealth Superannuat^. on Scheme.

He c, .ai. med the inert'i. tory Government had fad. Led to makeadequate employer contributions to the Commonweal. thfund, and now faced a huge backLog of milli. ons ofdo 1.1. ars .

Mr. CAVANAGH said that the Government ini. ght be requiredto make Large Lump sum payments to the Commonweal. thfund, but i. t. no Longer had the money.

He sai. a the Treasurer, Mr. PERRON, had admi. tted i. n theLegi. SI. attve Assembl. y that the Territory had not forward(si. c) any employer cont, :,.. button si. rice the estabLi. shinentof self-government in 1978, nor has there been anyprov, .s, .on made to hoLd these moneys ,. n trust. "

5

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defendant's press rel. ease (Exh, .b, .. t PI) dated I November 1982 '

which was i. n these termss-

inhi. s brought a response in the form of the second

"Press rel. ease b

The Tel:',:i. tory Government owed nothing to Commonwea, .thauthori. ti. es ,. n respect of superannuati. on for Territorypubl. i. c servants, the Treasurer, Mr Marshal. I. Perl:'on, sai. dtoday.

He sai. a goss, .p bei. rig spread by the Admi. ni. strat, .ve andC, .er, _cal. Offi. ce, :s Associ. atton (ACOA) about aLl. egedTerritory debts was mai. i. ci. ous and spi. teful. .

the Treasurer

Mr Perl:'on said he cou, .a not understand the reasons for aaecei. tful. outburst by an ACOA spokesman, Mr BarryCavenagh (s, .c. ) on the matter.

He assumed Mr Cavenagh was respondi. rig to current ACOApo, .it teal. pressures and spl. its wi. thi. n hi. s ownAssoci. ati. on, and he was tryi. rig to',, e-assert hi. mse, .f wi. thhis members.

Mr Marshall Perl:'on

'ALL he is creati. .rig I. s unwarranted fear among hi. .smembers that thei. ,, superannuation cont, :i. buti. ons aresomehow at ,r, .sk, ' the Treasurer sai. d.

'Nothi. rig COILl. d be further from the truth.

'Put SLmpl. y, the Territory i, s currentl. y neooti. ati. rig wi. ththe Commonweal. th to take over admi. ni. st, :at, .on ofsuperannuation funds for Territory publ. ,. c servants,

'Employer cont. Ifi. buttons by some statutory author, .. ti. esare betng ret. a^. ned by the Territory as thosenegoti. ati. ons draw to a conc, .uston, and wi. th the coinpl. eteagreement of the Commonweal. th.

', I, :. Cavenagh' s statement that the !I'e. :. I:'i. to, ,y i. s facedwi. th a huge backlog of payments ,. nvol. vi. rig ini. 1.1. tons ofdo1.1. ars i, s a bare-faced I. i. e. '

Mr Per, :on satd Mr Cavenaqh had consi. stentJ. y displayedunwi. 1.1. i. rigness to deal. i. n the truth in the matter ofsuperannuation payments.

'Thi. s man g, .ves poor service to those members who payhi. in h, .s sal. ary, ' he sai. d.

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The Treasurer said the facts weres

That the terri. tory has no obj. tgati. on to make empl. oyersuperannuation contributions to the Commonweal. th ,. nrespect of inert'i. tory publ. IC servants, and has had noobj. i. gati. on to make such payments i. n the past. That itwi. LL not take on such an obj. i. .gati. on until. a separatemer, r, .toI:'y superannuation scheme comes i. nto existence.Tt does not owe the Commonweal. th Government, theCommonwea, .th superannuation fund or anybody el. se onesingle cent in respect of superannuation forinert'i. to, :y pubLi. c servants' The CommonwealthGovernment i. s cont, .nu, .rig to meet emp, .oyercontri. .buti. ons i. n respect o^' reti. red Territory pubL, .. cservants and w^. J, . cont, .nue to do so until.

sati. sfactory fund, .rig arrangements are agreed betweenthe two Governments.

Mr Perron sai. a Mr Cavenagh's acti. ons were those of asaboteur who was bent on destroy, .rig i. riter-Governmentnegoti. attons for hi. s own personal. benefi. t.

'Un^ortunatel. y, i. n doi. rig so he i. s spreadi. rig uricerta, .ntyand ini, strust among hi. s member's, ' he sai. d.

'They are ent, .tl. ed to seek from hi. in an expl. anati. on forth^. s i. rrespons, .. bLe atti. tude. '

ENDS"

page of the 11. in. News i. n the secti. on headed, "Late News"

publ. i, shed the fo, .Lowi_rigs-

On the same day the fi. r'st defendant, on the back

"

Treasurer, Mr Marshal. I. Perron, sai. a today the NTGovernment owed nothi. rig to Commonwealth authori. .ti. es i. nrespect of superannuati. on for merr, .tory publ. i. c servants,He said gossi. p be, .rig spread by the Administrat, .ve andC, .er, .:cal. Of^,.. cers Associ. ati. on about a, .leged inert. i. to, :ydebts was mai. i. CIOus and spiteful. . Mr Perron sai. a hecouJ. a not understand the reasons for a decei. tfu, .

outburst by an ACOA spokesman, Mr Bar, :y Cavenaqh, on the'ALL he i. s creating is unwarranted fear amongmatter.

his member's that their superannuat, .on contr, .but, .ons are

SUPER GosSTP 'SPTTEFur, ' SAYS PERRON

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somehow at risk. Nothi. rig could be further from thetruth. ' Mr Pert'on said the Territory was currentl. ynegoti. ati. rig with the Commonwea, .th to take overadm^. ni. strati. on of superannuation funds for Tel:. ri. to, ,ypublic servants. 'Binp, .oyer contri. buti. ons by somestatutory authori. ties are bei. rig retained by themerri. tory as those negoti. attons draw to a concl. usi. on,and wi. th the coinpl. ete agreement of the Commonweal. th. 'Mr. Pert'on sai. a Mr. Cavenagh's acti. ons were those of asaboteur who was bent on destroying inter-governmentnegotiations for hi. s own personal. benefit.'UnfortunateI. y in doi. .rig so he i's spreading uricertai. ntyaria mistrust among hi. s members. They are enti. t, .ed toseek from hi. in an expLanat, .on for hi. s i. rresponsi. b, .eatti. tude, " Mr Perron sai. a. "

The i. ssues artsi. rig between the respecti. ve parti. es

have given ,:i. se to rather Long and coinp, .,. cated PI. eadi. rigs and

parti. CUTarS Which, i. n some i. nstances, Were amended dunnq

At the I:'i, sk of betng repeti. ti. ous,

therefore, T set forth at some length the main al. ,. egati. ons

and the parti. CUI. ars sought to support them, as uLti. matel. y

amended, al. orig wi. th the general. effect of the respecti. ve

the course of the t, =i. al. .

defences.

cl. atms that the item pub, .ished by 5. t in the N. in. News of I

November 1982 was aefamato, :y of the PIai. nti. .ff and that the

As against the fi. r'st defendant, the PI. a, .nti. ff

words i. n thei. I:' natural. and ordi. nary mean, .rig contai. ned the

followi. rig imputati. ons g -

" (j. ) That the PI. a, .nti. ff was spreading Lies or looseand unrel. tabi. e information for reasons of mai. ,.. ceor spite towards the Northern TerritoryGovernment or ,. ts litni. sters.

8

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( i. i. I That the pi. atnti. ff was creating unwarranted fearand concern amongst members of theAdmini. strati. ve and Cleri. cal. Off^. cers'

Associ. at, .. on ,. n the Northern inert. i. to, ,y abouttheir own welfare.

( i. I. i. ) That the PI. ai. nti. .ff was acting as a 'saboteur'intent upon rutni. rig for i. inproper inoti. .ves, ascheme which would benefit members of theAdmini. strat^. ve and Cleri. cal. Officers'

Associ. ati. on i. n the Northern TeX',:i. tory.

That the PI. a, .nttff was wi. I. EU, .I. y spreadinguricerta, .nty and ini. strust annonqst members of theAdmi. ni. .stirati. ve and Cl. er, .. cal. Offi. eel:. s'

Associ. atton for i. inproper inoti. ves.

(tv)

(v)

(vi. )

That the plainti. ff was an irresponsible person.

That the PI. ai. nti. ff was inoti. vate6 in makingremarks attributed to hi. in for reasons of

persona, . gai. n or POT, .ti. cal. advancement and that,. n doi. rig so, he was acting contrary to theproper i. riterests of hi. s empl. oyers.

That the platnti. ff was a Liar and a di. shonestperson.

(v, .I I

(Vi. i. i. ) That the PI. ai. nti. ff was Unfi. t to hold thePOS, .ti. .On that he presentl. y hol. ds with, .n theAdmini. strati. .ve and Cl. er, .cal. Offi. cers'Assoc, .ati. on .

( ,. x) That the PI. at. nt, .. ff was not fi. t to occupy aPOS, .ti. .on of responsi. bi. L:. ty withi. n the Unionmovement at Large.

That the PI. ai. nti. ff was an unscrupulous andreckl. ess person who Igou, .d i. rrespons, .bl. ysacr, .fi. ce the i. rite, :ests of his empl. oyers forreasons of h, .s own personal. qai. n. "

(x)

As agai. nst the second defendant, the PI. atnti. ff

cl. a, .ms that the press rel. ease was pubLi. shed by him on

I November 1,982 to the fi. r'st defendant, to representatives

of the AUSt, :al. i. an Broadcasti. rig Comintssi. on, 11. in. D. Ei. ght and

9

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other newspapers ci. rcu, .. ati. rig in the Northern Territory,

resulting in parts of the release being CLI:'CUIated

throughout the Northern Territory, a consequence the second

defendant wei. I. knew would occur.

Tt i, s aLl. eged that the press release was

substant, .. aLLy rep, ,i. rited by the first defendant in the 11. in.

News of I November 1982.

Tn addi. t, .on, ,. t cl. a^. ms that the press re, .ease

pub, .. i. shed by the second defendant conta, .ned the i. inputati. on

that the PI. ai. nti. .ff, i. n publ. i, shi. .rig a pri. or statement was

prompted not by the proper motive of furthertrig the

triterests of his empl. oyers and the members of hi. s

associ. atton, but by improper inot:. ves of pub, .i. ci. ty-seeki. rig

and grand-standing assoc, .ated with a desire to gai. n favour

in the furtherance of hi. s own industri. a, . or pol. i. tica, .

archi. ti. ons; that the PI. a, .nti. ff i, s a I. tar and that he i. s not

a worthwhile empLoyee and should therefore be dismissed from

his job3 that the press rel. ease i. inputes grossl. y i. inproper

inoti. ves to the PI. a, .nt, .ff and an unfitness to ho, .d a postti. on

of trust.

The PI. a^. nti. ff further aLl. eges that in each of the

publ. i. cati. ons he i. s i. denti. f, .ed by name and by empl. oyment aria

that they were cal. CUTated to disparage him i. n hi. s employment

IO

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and greatly injure h:. s reputati. on as a union offLetal. .

Then foLl. ows the customary cl. atin for damages aqai. nst each

defendant for defamati. on.

publ. i. cati. on but sets up a statutory defence of privilege

under s. 6 of the Defamati. on Act by PI. ead, .rig in paragraph 32-

The fi. r'st defendant, for i. ts part, admi. ts the

"The words coinpl. at. ned of consti. tute a noti. ce of reporti. ssued by the second defendant in hts capaci. ty asTreasurer of the Northern Territory for or on behalf ofthe Department of the Treasury ^or the information ofthe publ. i. c and the sai. d words were published in theNorthern merri. tory News (whi. ch was and ,. s a newspaperwithi. n the meani. rig of the Defamation Act) at the seconddefendant' s request. Tn the circumstances the occasion

of publ. ,. cation was prtvi. leged PUT. suant to s. 6 of theDefamati. on Act. "

(The PI. ai. nti. ff, i. n hi. s rep, .y, denies that the

pub, .i. cation complained of ,. s a fat, : and accurate report or

noti. ce for the purpose of Secti. on 6 of the Defamation Act

and i. n parti. cu, .ar that the press rel. ease of the second

defendant was a matter of public concern or for the pubJ. i. c

benefi. t. )

Tn addi. t, .on, the ftrst defendant rel. ,.. es upon a

defence of fa, .,= comment on a matter of publ. i. c i. riterest3

and, by paragraph 4 of its Amended Defence, PI. eadsg-

1.1

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"Tf the words coinpLa, .ned of have the tinputati. ons al. Leged(whi. ch i, s denied) then the said words are fat, , commenton a matter of publ. i. c i. .riterest, name, .y=

(a) The capac, .ty of the Northern Ter, =,. tory Governmentin general and the Treasurer 5. n particul. at' tomanage a superannuation fund3

Ib) The abi. Lity of the Northern Territory Governmentin general. and the Treasurer in parti. CUIar tomanaoe a superannuati. .on fund3

(c) Whether or not the Northern inert'i. toI:'y Governmenthad ini. sappropri. ated funds whi. ch shou, .a have beenset asi. de for superannuati. on purposes;

(6) Whether or not the Northern Territory Governmentcominttment to make financi. a, . cont, :i. buti. onshad any

to the Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme i. nrespect of Tet. I:'i. to, :y Publ. .i. c Servants'

(e) Whether or not the Northern Territory Governmenthad the funds to meet any commitments to theCommonweal. th Superannuat, .on Scheme i. n respect ofTet'I:'i. tory PubLi. c Servants'

(f) Whether the Northern Territory Government washonest i. n its dealings with Northern TerritoryPublic Servants'

(g) Whether or not the accrued or potentialsuperannuati. on benefi. ts of Territory PubJ, .cServants were at ,:i, sk;

(h) Whether or not the Northern Tet',:i. to, ,y Publ. ,. cService coul. a have confidence in the Northern

inert'i. to, :y Government as the Largest si. rigl. eemp, .oyer ,. n the Ter, :,. toify i. n the management offunds admi. ni. stered by the Government3

(i. ) Whether or not the future securi. ty of NorthernTerritory Publ. i. c Servants was ,. inperil. Led by thef^. nanc, .a, . arrangements entered ,. Tito by theNorthern inert'i. to, :y Government wi. th theCommonweal. th;

(j) What arrangements exi. st. ed between the NorthernTet'ri. tory and the Commonwealth Government as tofundi. rig and transfer of superannuation funds;

(k) Whether the second-named defendant was competentanalor honest in the di. scha, ,ge of his functi. ons asTreasurer;

I2

. t

( I. I Whether funds belonging to potential. superannueeswhich should have been i. n trust had been wronglyappl. ,.. ed and dissipated by the second-nameddefendant analo, : the Northern inerti. toI:'y Government,. n an uriauthor, .sea way3

(in) Whether the Northern Territory Government i. n ,. tsdealtnq with Northern mer, :i. to, :y Publ. to Servants onthe matter of superannuati. on was d, .. shonest3

(n) General. I. y the competence of the Northern TerritoryGovernment and i. n particul. air the Treasurer tomanage the f, .. nancia, . affai. r's of the merri. tory;

(0) The f, .nanc, .. a, . admi. ni. strati. on of the NorthernTerritory.

The facts upon which the fat. ,: comments are based are asfol. ,. ows s

(a) The pi. atnti. .ff i, s a spokesman for and a sal. art. e6offi. cer of the Admi. ni. stirati. ve and C, .ex'i. cal. Officer'sAssoci. ation (ACOA)3

(b) At al. ,. materi. aJ. . times the PI. a^. nti. ff had been anact, .ve parti. ci. pant i. n at. scussi. ons and negoti. .at^. onsbetween the Publ. .,. c Service Commissioner and hisoffi. cers, the Under-Treasurer and hi. s offi. cers andrepresentati. ves of uni. ons and associ. ati. ons whosemembers were e, .i. gi. bl. e to parti. c, .pate ,. n a proposedscheme of superannuation for Northern merri. toI:. yPubl. i. c Servants, the ACOA be^. rig one suchassoci. atton and the platnt^. ff bei. rig one of itsrepresentat, .ves3

The PI. atnti. ff by reason of h^. s participation in thediscussions and negoti. attons referred to above andby reason of statements made on behalf of theNorthern Territory Government i. n March and JULy1982 and the ACOA i. n February 1982, knew the factsconcerni. rig the financ, .a, . arrangements between theNorthern Tet'r, .tory Government and the CommonwealthGovernment regarding superannuati. on for Tel:'ri. toryPubl. ,. c Servants'

Part, .cuLars

(c)

(a) Tt was and i, s a fact that the Northern TerritoryGovernment is not I. tabLe and has not been I. ,. ab, .esi. rice sei. Egovernment to make any payments to theCommonwea, .th Superannuati. on Scheme in respect ofempl. oyees of the Northern Tel:',:i. to, ry Publ. i. .c Serv, .ce;

I3

.

(e) Tt was and i's a fact that some statutoryauthor, .t, .es created under Northern Tetr, .to, ,y Laware required to contri. bute as employers towardsfuture superannuati. on benefits of thei. r empl. oyeesand such funds are as part of the financial.arrangement between the two governments bel. a in aTrust Fund cal. l. ed 'Statutory Authorities Empl. .oyersContri. button towards Superannuati. .on'.

( f) At the time of publ. ,. cation of the matters referredto in (i. ) and (j) (bel. ow) there were pol. i. ti. cal.pressures wi. thin the ACOA concerni. rig rivalorgantsati. ons seek, .rig to represent admi. ni. strati. .veand cl. eri. cal. offi. cers i. n the Northern merr, .toryPubl. i. c Serv, .ce such that the ACOA was act, .vel. yd, .ssuad^. rig its members from leaving the ACOA andjotni. rig such rival. organ, .sati. on. The platnt, .ffhad an triterest as ,. ridustria, . officer of the ACOAi. n betng prom, .nent. and forceful. in negoti. attonsover superannuation and in public statements madewith regard thereto so as to persuade members ofthe ACOA and potenti. a, . member's of the ACOA thatthat Associ. atton was best abl. e to represent thetriterests of i. ts member's and northern inert. i. toryPublic Servants in general. .

(g) At the time of pub, .i. cation of the matters referredto i. n (i. ) and (j) (bel. ow) there had been spl. i. ts inthe ACOA invol. vi. rig the former Branch Secretary, Mr.Turnbul. ,., and other executive offtcers of the uni. onand such spl. i. ts threatened the policy of the ACOAthat that Associ. ati. on shoul. a have the sole coverageof adm, .ni. st. rati. ve and cl. er, .cal officers in theNorthern Territory Publ. ,. c Service.

(ga) The plaint, .ff had an interest i. n carrying out theACOA po, .,. cy referred to in (f) above and of re-asserti. rig h, .mse, .. f to be the most effecti. verepresentati. ve or spokesman for the ACOA in thematter of superannuati. on and by doi. rig so couldd, .ssuade members from defect, .rig to such xi. va, .orqani. sati. ons .

(h) The PI. amttff was at all. material. ti. mes abl. e to askmembers of the Northern mer, :i. tory Government and/ormembers of the group descri. bed i. n paraqraph (1:1) forexpl. anati. on i. f any of the fi. nanci. al. and otherarrangements between the two governments in respectof superannuati. on caused hi. in concern3

Without seeki. rig any explanation the platnti. ff on orbefore I November 1,982 publ. i, shed to a journa, .istemployed by the AUSt, :a, .tan Broadcast, .rig Coinm, .ssi_on

( i. )

I4

,

a newsl. ette, : (further i. denti. fled in (j) bel. owl andfurther pubLi. shed to the satd journal. ist thefol. lowing words or words to the following effects

'Members of the ACOA ,, i. ,.. I. meet ,. n Darw, .n on

Wednesday to discuss the proposedsuperannuati. on scheme for merri. tory publ. :. c

The Government intends toservants' pass

necessary Legtsl. atton auri. rig the Novembersitting of the Assembly, but the ACOAexecutive i, s b, .tter, .. y opposed to the scheme.The TeX'ri. to, ,y scheme shou, .d be avail. ab, .e tonew members of the merri. toI:. y publ. i. c se, :vi. ce,and anybody who ini. ght w^. sh to switch from theAUStral. tan Government scheme. The governmenthas been atshonest about i. ts i. ritenti. ons, andhas been i. rrespons, .bl. e in not meeting itscominttments to the Commonweal. th superannuati. onscheme. The TeX'ri. tory government has fail. ed tomake adequate employer contributions to theCommonwealth fund, and now faces a hugebackLog of ini. 3.3. i. ons of 601.1. ars. The

government might be requi. red to make largeLump sum payments to the Commonweal. th fund,but ,. t no Longer has the money. The

Treasurer Mr. Pert'on, has admi. tted i. n theAssembl. y that the Territory has not forwardedany emp, .oye, , contributions since theestab, .,.. shinent of self-Government in 1978.

Nor has there been any provisions made to 1101. dthese moni. es i. n trust. "

These words or words to a sinni. Lax. effect were

pubJ. ,. shed to the satd journal. ist with the intenti. onthat they be publ. ,. shed throughout the NorthernTerritory by radi. o and they were so broadcast onthe ABC News at 7 .25 a. in. on I November, 1,982.

( j )

the

The Newsl. etter referred to ,. n (b) was dated 25October, 1982 and si. gned by the PI. a, .nti. ff andi. ncl. uded the fol. Lowi. rig statementss

'Tn response to questi. oninq in the Leg, .. SLati. veAssembl. y, auri_rig the October si. .tt, .rigs, theTreasurer admi. tted that the Northern TeX'I:'i. to, :yGovernment has not forwarded any empl. oyercont, :i. buti. on to the Commonwealth since the

estab, .i. shinent of self-government i. n 1978.Further, there has not been any provi. si. on madeto hol. d these monies i. n trust. From th, .. s, ,. ti. s reasonable to assume that the NorthernTenri. tory Government cou, .d face a Largeemployer contribution requirement for its

1.5

, ,

employees who are members of the CommonwealthSuperannuati. on Scheme.

This fat, .ure to adequately aria responsi. bl. yprovide for i. ts I. tabil. i. ty for 11. in. Governmentempl. oyees appears to be the basic motivatingforce behi. rid the N. in. Government' s desi. re togo back on its promi. ses to its employees atthe ti. me of sei. f-government. That ^. s, thatthey would be eLi. q, .. bl. e to reina, .n i. n theCommonwea, .. th Superannuation Scheme. '

The newsletter was widel. y publ. ,. shed to members ofthe ACOA throughout the Territory.

The matter pubLi. shed as al. leged was fal. se i. n thefO, .,. OWi. rig materi. al. parti. CUI. ars=

( I) Tt was not true that 'the Tet'ri. torygovernment had fatJ. ed to make adequateemployer cont, ,,. buttons to the Commonwealthfund '.

(k)

( i. I. ) lit was not true that the Territorygovernment 'now faced a huge back, .og ofin, .1.1. i. ons of do 1.1. ars ' .

( it. j. ) Tt was not true that 'the government ini. ghtbe requi. red to make large lump sum paymentsto the Commonweal. th fund'.

(tv)

(v)

Tt was not true that (the Territorygovernment) 'no Longer had the money'.

Tt was not true that the Treasurer

Mr. Pert'on, had admi. tted ,. n the Assemblythat the Territory had not forwarded anyempl. oyer contri. buttons to the CommonwealthSuperannuati. on Fund SLnce the establ. ,. shinentof sei. f-government.

(vi. )

( I. ) At al. I. materi. aL ti. mes the facts wereg

Tt was not true that there had been 'noprov, .si. on made to hoLd these montes intrust'.

( i. ) the T'err, .tory Government owed nothing toCommonwealth Authori. ties in respect ofsuperannuati. on for Territory Publ. i. cServants.

I6

,

( j. i. ) The plainti. ff had publ. ished the material setout in (i. ) and (j) above aL, .eqi. rig (interaL, .a) that the Tet'r, .to, :y was in debt to theCommonweal. th Superannuati. on fund invo, .ving'a huqe backl. og of ini. I. Li. ons of do1.1. ars'.

( j. i. j. ) The matertal. publ. ished by the PI. ai. nti. ff wascapabl. e of creating fear among member's ofthe ACOA that thei. r superannuati. onenti. tl. ements ^., ere at ,, i. sk.

(tv) The Tel:'ri. tory Government was negoti. attrigwith the Commonweal. th to take overadmi. ni. .strati. on of superannuation funds forTen:',. tory Pub, .,. c Servants'

Binp, .oyer cont, :i. buttons by some statutoryauthor, .ties were being zetai. ned by theinert'i. to, :y ,. n Trust wi. th the completeagreement of the Commonwealth.

(v)

(vi. ) The statement that the Territory was facedwi. th a huge backl. og of payments i. nvol. v, .rigini. .1.1. ,. ons of do, .I. ars was fal. se.

(vi. i. ) The Territory had no obj. i. qat, .on to makeempl. oyer superannuation contr, .but, .ons to theCommonwea, .th i. n respect of inerti_to, :y PubLicServants, and had no obligation to make suchpayments in the past.

(v, ..,..,.) The Territory would not be obL, .ged to setasi. ae empl. oye, : contri. buti. ons for TeX. xi. toI:'yPubl. i. c Servants unti. I. a Tel:'r^. to, ,ysuperannuati. on scheme came i. nto existence.

( i. x ) The Tet'r, .tory ai. a not owe the Commonwealthgovernment, the Commonweal. th Superanrillati. onFund or anybody el. se one cent in respect ofemp, .oyer contri. buti. ons for superannuati. onfor Tet'ri. tory Publ. i. .c Servants'

The Commonwealth government was conti. nu, .rigto meet superannuation obL, .gati. ons i. nrespect of reti. red T'err, .tory Publ. to Servantsand wou, .a cont^. nue to do so unttl.sati. sfactory fundi. rig arrangements wereagreed between the two governments.

(x)

(xi. ) The material. the PI. amti. ff published wasLikeJ. y to spread uncertainty and ini. strustamong members of the ACOA.

1.7

, .

(xi. i. ) The allegations made by the PI. ai. nti. ff vereI. i. kel. y to cause serious al. arm i. n theNorthern Territory Coinmuni. ty concerning thefi. nanc, .. al. admini. strati. on of the Territory bythe Northern Territory Government. "

up by paragraph 5 of the amended Defence which is

foil. ows =-

A further defence, under the Defamation Act, i, s set

"Tnsofar as the sai. d words refer or were understood to

refer to the PI. ai. nt, .. ff then he betng a person who takespart ,. n publ. IC affa:. r's they are fai. I:' comment within themeani. rig of s. 6 (A) (siC. ) of the Defamation Act upon h, .spubLi. c conduct and tits character so far as his characterappears ^1:0m that conduct.

The defendant rel. i. es on parti. CUI. ars set out in respectof paragraph 4 of thi. s Defence. "

(The re, _evant secti. on i, s 6A. )

By paragraph 6 of the amended Defence, a pi. ea of

quaLi. f^. ed pri. vi. lege ^. s set up in the followi. rig termss-

Parti. CUI. ars

as

"Prtor to the publ. .i. cati. on of the words coinpl. atned of thePI. at. nti. ff had publ. ,.. shed the words set out i. n paragraphs4 (i. ) and 4 (j) of thi. s Defence (or words to a sin:. jareffect) and the sai. a words had been w, .del. y pub, .ishedthroughout the Northern Tet'ri. tory on the ABC News and i. nthe newsl. etter del. i. vet. ed to the members of the ACOA as

al. Leged i. n paragraph 4 hereof3 and the second defendantin his capaci. ty as Treasurer of the Northern Territoryi. ssued, i. n response to the aforesa, .a publ. ,. cat^. ons thePress rel. ease more parti. CUTarl. y descr^. bed 5. n the secondparagraph 6 of the Statement of Cl. ai. in and requested thefirst defendant to publ. i. sh the same. Tn the

circumstances the first defendant had a SOC, .al. or moral.

duty to publish the substance of the said Press rel. easeand the pub, .i. c had a correspondi. rig interest in reading

I8

, q

the sai. a matter and i. t was in the publ. i. c i. interest thatthe words shoul. a be pubLi. shed i. n the ^,. r'st defendant'ssaid newspaper (wh, .ch at al. ,. material. t, .mes was the onlydai. I. y newspaper ci. I:'CUI. ati. rig in the Northern Territory).By reason of the matters aforesaid the occasion of thesai. a pubL, .. cati. on was prtvtLeged. "

By hi. s defence, the second defendant, after maki. rig

certai. n formal. adm, .SSLons, denies the a, .. Leged defamation of

the PI. ai. nti. ff and all. of the imputations allegedI. y contained

in the i. tern ^. n the N. T. News of I November 1982.

that he pubLi. shed the press rel. ease to the fi. r'st defendant

i. n the terms a, .Leged, but does not adm^. t. that i. t was

substant^. ally reprinted by the first defendant.

publ. ,.. shi. rig to the fi. r'st defendant the press release but

den, .es each and every remaini. rig allegation in the Statement

of C, .a, .in.

second defendant sets up a defence of fat, , comment upon

matters of publ. i. c interest i. n i. denti. cal. terms to those

By paragraphs 9 and 1.0 of the amended Defence, the

PI. eaded by the f, .rst defendant i. n paragraph 4 of i. ts Defence

except for the prefatory words, namelys-

"The sai. a words coinp, .ai. ned of ,. n paragraphs 4 and 6 ofthe Statement of Cl. ai. in are fair comment upon matters ofpubl. i. c ,. rite, rest name, .y: -"

He admits

Tn addition, the second defendant aL, .eoes by

paragraph IT of the amended De^ence that the plat. nti. ff then

He admits

I. 9

, .

being a person who takes part I. n public affai. rs, the words

coinpl. at. ned of in the Statement of CTai. in i. nsofa, , as they

refer to hi. in, are fai. r comment wi. thin the meaning of s. 6. A. of

the Defamation Act upon his pubJ. i. c conduct and hi. s

character i. nsofa, : as his character appears from that

conduct.

those set out i. n paragraph 1.0 writch coi. nci. de wi. tl} those also

given by the fi. r'st defendant i. n support of i. ts plea of fa^. r

(supra. )comment.

The particul. ars in support of that defence are

quaLi. fi. ed prtvi. Lege by paragraph 3.3 of the amended Defence

which ,. s as followss-

The second defendant a}so Tai. ses the defence of

"The second-named defendant was at aLl. material ti. mesthe Treasurer ^. n the Northern Tern. to, ry Government.Pri. or to the publ. i. cati. on of the matters referred to i. nparagraphs 4 and 6 of the Statement of Claim thePI. atnti. ff had published of and concern5. rig the seconddefendant the matters set out i. n paragraphs 1.0(,.) and1.0(j) of this defence. The sai. d matters pub, .ished bythe pi. at. nti. ff were false and seriousLy refl. ected uponthe fi. nanci. al. capaci. ty of the Northern TerritoryGovernment and of the second defendant ^. n such a waythat the second defendant was under an ob, .Iqat, .on tomake an i. minedLate aria convi. nci. rig pubL, .. c refutati. on and,,. n vtew of the matters referred to in paraqraph 1.0, tosuggest why the PI. ai. nti. ff might be concerned to makesuch fal. se a, .,. egat, .ons, aria the peopl. e of the NorthernTet'r^. tory had an ,. riterest i. n being ,. nfo, :med of thematters set out i. n paragraph 6 of the Statement ofCl. a, .in .

By reason of the matters aforesaid the occasi. on of thesai. a publicat, .on was prtv^. leged.

1.4 . Particul. ars

20

J ,

Wi. thout Limit, .rig the matters a, .Leged i. n paragraph 1.3 thesecond defendant repeats the matters all. eged i. nparagraphs 9 and 1.0 of thi. s defence. "

by paragraphs 1.5 to 24, incl. ustve, whi. ch are as fell. owss-

The second defendant then sets up a counter-cl. ai. in

"

1.5 . The second defendant was at al. J. material timesdesignated as Treasurer i. n the government of theNorthern Territory of AUSt, :aL, .a. (Admitted byPIa, .nti. ff .)

16 . Tn thei. ,= natural. and ord, .nat'y meaning :. n matterspertaini. rig to the financ, .al. adm, .n, .. strati. on of theNorthern inerti. to, :y references to 'the government'or 'the Northern inert. i. toify Government' were and areunderstood to refer to a sinaLl. . number of personsincl. udi. rig the second defendant. (Deni. ed byPI. at. nti. ff . )

1.7 . The plaintiff as i. nanst. ,:i. al. officer of the ACOApubJ. i. shed on or about 25 October 1982 a newsLetterto members of the ACO. A. in respect of a proposedsuperannuati. on scheme for Northern merri. to, :y PubJ. toServants. (Denied by PI. ai. nti. ff. )

The publ. toati. on of the Newsletter was throughoutthe Northern Territory and was of aria concerni. rigthe second defendant and contained the follow^. rigs

'Tn response to questtorii. rig i. n the I. ^eqi. SLati. veAssemb, .y, auri. rig the October si. tti. .rigs, theTreasurer admitted that the Northern merr^. toI:'yGovernment has not forwarded any empl. oye, :contr^. bution to the Commonwealth since theestabl. i, shment of sei. f-government i. n 1.978.Further, there has not been any prov, .SIon madeto hol. a these monies in trust. From thi. s, i. ti. s reasonabl. e to assume that the I. 'orthernTerritory Government cou, .a face a Largeemp, .oyer contr, .buti. on Legui. reinent for itsempl. oyees who are members of the CommonwealthSuperannuation Scheme.

T'hi. s fatl. ure to adequately and responsi. bl. .yprov, .ae for its I. ,. abi. I. i. ty for 11. in. Governmentempl. oyees appears to be the basic inoti. vati. rig

1.8 .

2I

a ,

force behind the tv. in. Government' s desire to

go back on i. ts promi. ses to i. ts empJ. oyees atthe time of self-government. That i, s, thatthey would be eLi. gi. bl. e to reina, .n in theCommonweal. th Superannuati. on Scheme. "

PI. amtiff but the rest of the allegations are denied.

A1. ternati. vel. y, the PI. a, .nti. ^f sets up a statutory defence of

(Publ. i. cat, .on of these words i. s admi. tted by

fat. I:' comment under s. 6A of the Defamati. on Act, al. orig w, .. th

paragraphs 1.0 and 1.1. , namel. ys-

"1.0 . Further, ^. f such pubJ. i. cati. on Of. a occur (whi. ch,. s den, .ed) such publ. i. cati. on occurred inci. rcumstances where the publication wasprt. vi. Leged, as the words coinpl. a, .ned of wereuttered honest, _37 as fair comment wi. thoutmai. I. ce on a matter of publ. ,.. c i. riterest, namelythe future of the Northern Ter, :i. tory Publ. ,. cServants' Superannuati. on Funds and whether ornot such superannuati. on funds or benefi. ts tomerri. tory PubLi. c Servants were at r, .sk by aperson ^. n d, .scharqe of th^. s (siC. ) pubLi. cduty as an Offi. ce, : of A. C. 0. A. in a matterwhere that person's own i. rite, :est i, sconcerned.

1.1 . The PI. a^. nti. ff ^urther c, .. atms PI:',. v, .,. ege for anystatement made and repeats ,. n respect thereofthe matters set out i. n paragraph 1.0 hereof. ")

" 1.9 . On or before I November 1.982 the plaint5. ffpubl. i. shed the newsl. ette, : to a radio journalist atthe AUStral. i. an Broadcasti. rig Comintssi. on and withthe i. ritent that they shoul. d be broadcast on theradio sa^. a the fo, .lowi. rig words or words to theeffect of=

'Member's of the ACOA WILL meet i. n Darwi. n on

Wednesday to a^. scuss the proposedsuperannuation scheme for ,:'erri. tory public

The Government ,. ritends to pass theservants .

necessary Legi. SLati. on during the November

22

* .

sitti. rig of the Assembly, but the ACOAexecutive i. s bi. tterl. y opposed to the scheme.The uni. on's i. ridustri. al. off, .cer, Mr. Bar, :yCavanagh, satd the Tet'ri. tory scheme shoul. a beavail. ab, .e to new members of the inert',. torypub, .i. c sex. vi. ce, and anybody who ini. ght wish toswi. tch from the AUSt, :al. ,. an Government scheme.Mr. Cavanagh sai. d the government had beendi. shonest about ,. ts intentions, and he accused,. t of bed. rig irresponsible 5. n not meeting i. tscominttinents to the Commonweal. th superannuationscheme. He cl. aimed the Territory governmenthad fa, .led to make adequate emp, _oyercont, :i. buttons to the Commonwealth fund, andnow faced a huge backlog of ini. 1.1. tons ofdoll. ars . Mr. Cavanagh satd the governmentini. ght be required to make large Lump sumpayments to the Commonwealth fund, but it noLonger had the money. He sai. d the TreasurerMr. Pert. on, had admi. tted i. n the Assembl. y thatthe Territory had not forwarded any emp, .oyercontri. buti. ons since the establ. ishment ofsei. f-government i. n 1978. Nor has there beenany provi. s, .on made to hol. a these montes intrust. ' (Den^. ed by PI. atnti. ff. )

20 . The satd words were on I November 1982 broadcast onthe ABC News throughout the Northern Territory.usot adm, .tted by PI. atnti. ff. )

The matters coinpl. at. ned of and set out in paragraphs1.8 and 1.9 hereof were defarnatory of the seconddefendant and the words in thei. r natural. andordi. nary meaning contained the foil. owi. rigimputati. ons:

21. .

( ,. ) That the second defendant was under anobLi. gat, .. on to forward empl. oyer cont, r^. buttonsto the Commonwealth Superannuat^. on Fund andw^. I. fu, .,. y and/or ,.. rresponsi. bl. y fai. Led tohonour that obj. i. gat, .. on;

( ,. t) That the second defendant was bound to setaside montes ^. n trust and had wi. J. fu, .I. yanal0, , 5.1:'responsi. .bl. y fatl. ed to do SO3

That the second defendant was Irrespons, .bl. ei. n the atscharge of hts auti. es as Treasurer3

That i. n order to concea, . aLLeged failures toforward to the CommonweaLth or put in trustmon, .es z. n respect of employer centi:',. buttonsor superannuati. on the second defendant hadacted ai. shonestl. y3

(tit)

( i. v)

. ,

23

. ,

Iv) That the second defendant had dissipated ornegi. .i. gentl. y ini, sapprop, :^. ated monies whichshoul. a have been paid on behalf of employeesas emp, .oye, : contri. buttons to superannuati. on;

That superannuation benefits accrued oraccrui. rig to Tet'ri. tory Publ. ,. c Servants andreti. red Territory Publ. i. c Servants were atI:',. sk because the second defendant wasi. ,,, eesponsi. bl. e 8

That the government was under a Li. abi. lity toprovi. de funds to the CommonweaLth in respectof employer contributions to superannuationand that the second defendant d, .shonestl. yanalo, : incompetentl. y :Ea, .,_ed to provide suchfunds8

(vi. i. i. ) That the second ae^endant i, s I. ncompetent3

(,.. xi That the second defendant i. s di. shonest3

(vi. )

(vi. i. )

That the second defendant was 65. shonestl. yputttng forward a scheme of superannuati. onfor the purposes o^ concealing a fat, .ure toadequate, .y and responsibly prov, .aesuperannuati. on funds.

(Dented by PI. a^. nti. ff. )

Tn each of the publ. i. cati. ons the second-nameddefendant was identified by name and by offi. ce.(Dented by PI. at. nti. ff. )

Each of the publ. i. cati. ons coinp, .a, .ned of werecal. CUTated to a5. sparage the PI. a, .. nti. ff in h^. s officeas Treasurer and to greatl. y ,. ridu, :e hi. s credit andreputati. on as Treasurer and as a member of theNorthern Tet'ri. tory Government. (Denied byPI. ai. nti. ff . )

By reason of the publicati. on by the PI. at. nti. ff ofthe matters set out in paragraphs 1.4 and 1.5 hereofthe second defendant has been greatly i. njured inhi. s credit and standi. rig and has been and wtl. I. bebrought i. nto publ. i. c scandal. , oatum, ri. atCUI. e andcontempt and the second defendant CTai. ms damages. "(Denied by PI. ai. nti. ff. )

(xi

22 .

23 .

^ .

24

,

Tn hi. s Reply to the Defence to Counter-cl. ai. in, the

second defendant generally do, .ns issue. He admits that the

platnt, .ff ,. s a person who takes part in public affairs but

denies that the publ. i. cation of the matters al. leged was fair

comment with, .n s. 6A of the Defamati. on Act.

paragraphs 1.0 and 1.1 of the platnti. ff's Defence to

Counter-c3. ai. in, (supra) the second defendant denies that

words were uttered honestI. y and says that the statements

were actuated by mai. ,. ce, parti. .CUTars of which ares-

" ( ,.)

(i. I)

The statements were fa, .se to the knowledge ofthe maker.

( j. .i. i. )

The statements were reck, .essl. y made with,. nat. fference as to whether they were true orfal. se .

The occasi. on ,. n respect of which the PI. atnt^. ffCTa, .ms prtvi. Lege was the at. ssemi. nati. on of,. nfo, :mati. .on to ACOA member's and the publicconcerni. rig the proposed superannuat, .on schemeand the defamation statements made were outsi. aethe occasi. on and not PI:'i. vi. Leged. "

As to

The pleadi. rigs i. ncl. ude a cl. a^. in by the fi. r'st

defendant agai. nst the second defendant for indemnity or

contri. button i. n the event of the first defendant betnq bel. d

I. table . The second defendant sets up a defence al. ,. egi. rig,

in effect, a duty on the part of the first defendant to

publ. i. sh the press release verbat, .in or at Least i. n si. ini. I. ar

form, but had fai. led to do either, as a restil. t of which ^. t

Lost the prtvi. lege ,. t woul. a otherw, .se have been accorded

25

, .

A1. ternati. vel. y, the fi. r'st

defendant had fat. Led to publ. i. sh a reasonable statement by

way of contradi. cti. on or expLanati. .on of the report of the

second defendant's press rel. ease as requested by hi. in

thereby dept. tvi. rig i. tseJ. f of its statutory defence.

under s. 6 of the Defamati. on Act.

47 ALR 477 the majori. ty o^ a FULL Bench of the FederaL Court

of AUStraLi. a satd at p. 481.8 -

Tn John Fairfax & Sons Ltd. v Hook and Anor. (1983)

A matter i's de^^natory I. f i. t tends 'to Lower thePI. ai. nti. ff i. n the esti. mat, .. on of r, .ght-thi. nki. rig members of

"

SOCi. ety generaLLy' (GatLei. s I. i. keLy to cause ordi. nary decent fo, .k i. n thecoinnuni. ty, taken i. n general. , to thi. nk Less of him' (perJordan Co' i. n eardi. ner v John Fairfax & Sons Pt Ltd(1.942) 42 SR (NSW) 1.71. at 1.72). 111he questi. on is notwhat the defendant meant or how the words wereunderstood by -the-PI. at. fit. i. f^-. -The meantng to be gi. vento the words used ,. s the meantng they woul. d convey tothe ordi. nat. y reasonabJ. e man. They are to be const, :uedi. .n__the, .r _natUtaJ. and ord~i. ITary meani. rig, i. e i. n the meantng,. n whi, ch- reasonable inert_ CIE_Drdi. nary i. rite, .I. ,. gence, ._., Ier.i. th--the ordi. na, :y-man' s general. __knowl. edg. e_. and_expertence ofwor, .dJ. y- at-tai. ,=s, -tvoul. -d be I. -i. kel. y to understand them-----(GatLe

Lord Rei. d sai. dB 'There i, s no doubt that ,. n acti. ons for

Libe, . the questi. on i. s what the words would convey to theordi. nary mans i. t i, s not one of constructi. on i. n the Legal.

The ordi. nary man does not I. tve i. n an ivory towersense.

and he i, s not inhi. bi. ted by a know, .edge of the I:. uJ. es ofconstructi. on. So he can and does read between the I. i. nesin the light of hi. s generaL know, .edge and expertence oftvorJ. dLy affai. rs. ' Lord Devl. ,. n satd i. n the same case([1,964] AC at 280)= 'There must be added to thetinp, .i. cati. ons which a court i. s prepared to make as amatter of constructi. on aLL such instnuati. ons and

,. rinuendoes as couJ. d reasonabJ. y be read i. nto them by theordi. nary inari. '

o

Tn I. ^ewi. .s v Dai. I.

, o

ci. t, para 41. ) or _!i. f i. t

c, .t, para 93).

Tel. e ra h Ltd 11.9641 AC 234 at 258,

26

, .

Lord Morn. s, speaki. rig for the Prtvy Counci. I, , satds-

'Tn deci. di. rig whether words are capab, .e of conveyi. riga detainatory meani. rig the court wi. 1.1. reject thosemeani. rigs whi. ch can onI. y emerge as the product of

Tn Dones v SkeJ. ton 119631 3 ALL ER 952 at 958

some strai. ned or forced or utterI. y unreasonabl. etrite, :pretati. on. Tn Ca i. taL and Count, .es Bank vI^^.!!.^.:, (,. 882) 7 App Cas 741, Lord seLbou, :ne satd (at745)s 'The test accordi. rig to the authori. t, .es, i. s,whether under the circumstances i. n which the wrtti. rigwas publ. i. shed, reasonabl. e men to whom thepubLi. cati. on was made, wouLd be Li. keLy to understandi. t i. n a I. i. .beL, .ous sense. '

The ordi. nary and natural. meaning of words may beeither the I. i. teral. meantng or i. t may be an tinpLi. edor ,. riferred or an i. ridi. rect meanLngs any meanz. rigthat does not requi. re the support of extri. nsi. c factspassi. rig beyond generaL knowl. edge but i. s a meaningwhich i. s capabJ. e of bei. rig detected i. n the Languageused can be a part of the ordi. na, :y and natural.meantng of words (see Lewi. s v Dai. L1,9631 2 ALL ER 1.51). The ord, .nary and naturaLmeantng may therefore i. ncLude any impl. tcati. on orinference tvhi. ch a reasonabLe reader, gui. ded not byany speci. al. but onI. y by general. know, .edge and notfettered Iby _. any_. strtct. ---,. egal. : ru, .es of constructi. on,wouLd -draw from the Words, '

Tn Mirror News a e, :s Ltd v Barrtson (1982) 42 ALR487 at~ 492.33~~~ 56 ALJR 808 I~~Mason .J, wi. th~~whom~the ~othermembers of -the. court agreed, sai. ds ~'A di. st:i. net, .on needsto be~~drawn~~between:;. Lhe -,:eader~'-s~'understandttig~of--what. ..-.~- .the newspaper i, s sayi. rig and judgments or concJ. usi. onswhi. ch he may reach as a resul. t of hi. s own bel. i. efs andprejudi. ces. Tt ,. s one thing to say that a statement i. scapab, .e of bean. rig an imputation ae^anatory o^ thePI. atnti. f:E because the ordi. nary reasonab, .e reader wouLdunderstand i. t ,. n that sense, drawi. rig on hi. s ownknowledge and expel:. i. ence of human affai. rs i. n order toreach that result. Tt is gutte another thi. rig to saythat a statement i. s capabl. e of beari. rig such an,. inputati. on mere, .y because i. t excttes i. n some readers abel. i. ef or prejud, .ce from wh, .ch they proceed to a, :,:tve ata concJ. usi. on unfavou, :abLe to the PI. atnti. :Ef. Thedefarnatory quaLi. ty of the pubJ. i. shed materi. aL i. s to bedeterini. ned by the fi. .r'st, not the second, proposi. t, .on.Tts tinportance for present purposes i. s that it focusesattenti. on on what is conveyed by the pubJ. .i. shed material.i. n the ini. rid of the ordi. nary reasonabl. e reader. '"

.

meLe ra h Ltd

.

27

,

On the defence of qual. i. fi. ed privilege, the majori. ty

sai. d i. n Hook' s case at p. 485 =-

" The CLI:'cumstances i. n tvhi. ch a defendant may'reLy upona de^ence of quaLi. fi. ed pri. .vi. lege were consi. dered by theNew South Wa, .es Court of AppeaL ,. n MOX'OSi. v MirrorNews a ers Ltd t,. 9771 2 NSWLR 749.exami. nati. on of the case Law the court referred to the

CTass, .caL statement of prt. nci. pi. e by Parke B :. n ^!999.9g^^!:^. 12:C!;^!^91 (1834) I Cr M & R 1.81 at 1933 1.49 ER 1044 at1049-508 'Tn generaL, an acti. on Li. es for the mai. I. ci. ouspubLi. cati. on o^ statements whi. ch are tai. se i. n fact, andi. nju, :tous to the character of another (wi. thin thewell. -known I. tini. ts as to verbaL SLander), and the lawconsi. ders such publ. i. cati. .on as mai. i. ci. ous, unJ. ess I. t i, sfatrJ. y made by a person i. n the di. scharge of some pubLi. cor prtvate duty, whether Legal. or moral. , or i. n theconduct of hi. s own atfatrs, i. n matters where hi. striterest i. s concerned. Tn such cases, the occas, .onprevents the-i. .n^erence of inal. i. ce, tvhi. ch the Law drawsfrom uriauthori. zed coinnuni. cati. ons, and a^fords aquaJ. i. fi. ed defence depending upon the absence of inaLi. .ce.Tf fai. rJ. y warranted by any reasonabLe occasi. on orexi. gency, and honest, .y made, such coriumuni. cati. ons areprotected for the common convent. ence and weLfare ofSOC, .ety3 ^and the--,.-aw -ha-s not--r-est, :, i. cted the t, .. ght to ....make them~wi. tht'n narrow I. i. ini. ts. 'any

Tn Ad^n v Ward {I. ^91.71-AC~309, Lord Atki. nson stated

Tn an exhausti. ve

the -prtnci. PI. e thus s _!_._.._a_pi:.. tvi. Leg_ed__o0ca. s. i. on i. s , i. n--reference- co-quaLi. ^,.. ed-Fin. vi. _Lege, _... an_DCcas, .onlyhere the ---.-person who makes a-~coimuni. cation has. an i. riterest era-duty, Legal. , SOCi. a, . or moraL, to make i. t to the personto whom I. t i. s made, and the person to whom i. t i. s so madehas a correspondi. rig ,. rite, :est or duty to recei. ve it.inh, .s reci. proc, .ty i. s essenti. a, .."' (at 334).

As to the defence of fai. ,: comment, Ferguson J. i. n

Orr v ZSLes (1965) 83 un (Pt I) (NSW) 303 at 320 et seq.

observeds-

" The ,:i. ght to comment on matters o^ pubLi. c i. riterestdoes not create a p, :i. vi. ,. eged occasi. on3 i. t i. s a rightthat bel. origs equal. I. y to every ci. ti. zen and i. s no

28

,

privilege at aJ. I. (Cam bel. I V S ott, .. swoode7693 1.22 E. R. 288)...

A comment i. s an opi. ni. on expressed on somethi. rig thathas taken pLace. Facts must be ,. n exi. stence before thecan be commented upon. Tf the exi. sti. rig facts upon tvhi. chthe comment be based of themsei. ves i. inpute somethi. ndetainatory of the PI. atnti. ff, that I. s not therespons, .bi. Itty of the defendant who comments u on them.Tt i. s not his ^auLt that they happened. Tf somethi. n ofpubLi. c interest occur, it i. s the ri. ght of ever ci. ti. zento freeLy ai. souss i. t. ..

At common Law, on the assumpti. on that the pubi. i. shedfacts upon which the comment i. s based are defarnato, : ofthe PI. at. nti. .ff but true, the de^endant rel. i. n u on thdefence of fatr comment, can be bel. d Li. ab, .e even thou hhe do not justi. :Ey by pleadi. rig the truth of the facts i. na separate p, .ea, onI. y i. f hi. s comment be un^atr. Thi. s i. sbecause the pi. ea i, s not di. rected to the facts at aLJ.but onI. y to the comment, and i. t i. s onI. y the comment thati's the defendant's responsi. bi. ,. i. ty. .. The pLea defends ~~the comment on the basi. s that the al. Legations o^ factare true, but i. t does not seek to justi. ^y such ~aJ. Legations on that basts3 they are defended on thebasis that they are matters of pubLi. c i. rite, :est. Thepubl. ,. c i's enti. tl. ed to know about them. Though i. nconsidering the -PI. ea-,---comment-i, s-- to-be separated fromfact, ^. f the comment so separated be fatr, the whoLepubLi. cati. on must be regarded as ^ai. r comment. ..

__ By_ such__a ,PI. ea_al. ,. that the- defendant ,. n effect---al. Leges i, s, "T am not gutl. ty of a 1.1. beL because aLl. ~ Thave done-i, s to comment fatr, .y on a-matter. - Of pubJ. t. c-~- -..--,. riterest. " rf that be estabLi. shed he i. s enti. tLed tosucceed in the acti. on. There i. .s no need for a defendantto justi. fy any def^nato, :y tinputati. ons contai. ned i. n the^acts. Where the defence of fai. r comment is rel. Ledupon, whether the facts be defamatory or not i. s antrimiateri. aL consideratton. The defendant i. s enti. tl. ed tocomment upon them i. n any event i. f they be matters ofpubLi. c interest. Tf the defendant fat, . on the ,. ea iti. s not because defarnato, :y all. egati. ons of fact have notbeen justi. fi. .ed, but because the comments u on them anot fad. r comments. ..

Tt i, s for the above reasons that a pi. ea of fatrcomment must be read as PI. eaded to the comments onlyand, i. f the PI. ea be estab, .i. shed, i. t i. s a coin Lete answerto the PI. atnti. ff' s c, .atin. ..

Under such a PI. ea, i. t must be remembered that i. t i. sthe fairness of the comments not the, .I:' truth that i.i. .n i. ssue . "

(1863) 3B & S.

^. .

29

,

L, .ini. ted (,. 983) I. IISWLR 699 at 7048-

As Bunt a'. said i. n

"The matertai. upon whi. ch the comment i. s based must bestated expressl. y or tinpLi. edl. y ,. n the matter coinp, .atnedof or i. t must constitute a matter of contemporaryhi. .story or generaL notori. ety and thus, i. n one way oranother, be made known to the reader's to enabJ. e them tojudge for themsei. ves whether they agree with thepubLtshedv Sini. th ' s

(IISW) 20 at 273Li. ini. ted (1,934) 34 SR (NSW) 524 at 531, 532 and Orr v

Hawke v Tanworth News a ers Co

TSLes SLIP, :a at pages 321, 329 and 3303' " , an 3supra at 498. "

opi. ni. on based upon that materi. aL= L!!X^^^. 9:2.WeekL PubLi. shi. n Co. Limited (1923) 24 SR

ti. me was empJ. oyed as a journal. i. st wi. th the ABC at Dai:wi. n,

i's, i. n my opi. ni. on, cri. ti. cal. to the deterini. nati. on of thi. s

for i. t was he, who, armed with the PI. atnti. ff'scase3

newsLetter (P8), spoke to the PI. ai. nti. ff over the teLephone

on the ni. ght of 31 October 1982 and that convex. sat, .on in

the Li. ght of what 11aessens had gLeaned from the newsl. etter

was transLated by 11aessens i. nto hi. s scri. pt for the ABC news

broadcasts the fol. Lowi. rig day at 5-1.5 a. in. 6-25 a. in. and

7-25 a. in.

The evi. dence o^' Nei. ,. Naessens, who at the mater, .aJ. .

Goldsbrou h v John Fatrfax & Sons

Bi. ckeL ' s case

ALL three broadcasts contained assertions cri. ti. cal.

of the Government attri. buttng di. shonesty and

i. rresponsi. bi. It. ty to i. t i. n both general. and speci. f, .c terms

about not meeti. rig i. ts conuni. tinents to the CommonweaJ. tli

Superannuati. on Scheme and attri. butt. rig to the second

30

.

defendant as Treasurer, a fa:. Lure to forward any empJ. oyer

contri. butt. on to the Commonwea, .th fund since sei. f-government

i. n 1,978 and asserti. rig that no provi. SLon had been made to

hoJ. d these moneys, whi. ch amounted to ini. LLi. ons of do, .Lax. s, i. n

trust3 and that the Government no Longer had the money.

Tt was to the content o^ these broadcasts to which

the second de^endant reacted with hi. s press reLease (PI) on

I November 1982. Naessens' evi. dence provi. des the pi. vota, .

poi. nt, therefore, i. .n foundi. rig the basts for the press

rel. ease. Thus the fi. rst i. ssue to be deterintried i, s whether

Naessens correctLy reported the pLai. nti. ff as a resuJ. t of

readi. rig hi. s newsJ. ette, = (P8) and ,. n i. ritervi. ewi. rig hi. in over the

teLephone.

Naessens was admittedI. y a reluctant wi. triess who

came to Darwin_from eru_net. t. o testi, fy. --:^ri the early_part

of hi. s evidence-i. n-chief_he was vague in hi. s recollect, .on of

events and of the substance of hi. s conversati. on wi. th the

PI. atnti. ff on the ni. ght 0^ 31. October 1,982. Thi. s was

understandabLe after a Lapse of some three years, especi. aLJ. y

as T gai. ned the di. sti. nct i. inpressi. on that unti. L he entered

the tvi. triess box he di. d not have very much idea about what he

in1.9ht be asked. Tndeed, (^or whatever reason), despi. te the

potenti. al. ,. y cri. ti. cal. nature of h, .s evi. dence, he gave every

i. ridi. cati. on that he had come to court wi. thout bei. rig proofed.

3I

I ,

Even in the :E'i. r'st i. nstance when he was gi. ven an opportunity

to refresh hi. s memory a^tel:' both documents (P8 & PIO), had

been shown to him, he reinai. ned vague in hi. s recollection

about "speci. fi. CS" but after a short adjournment dun. rig

which he was gi. ven the OPPo, :tuni. ty of a fresh Look at both

of those documents, he re-entered the wi. triess box wi. th hi. s

memory cLearl. y refreshed. T accept hi. s testi. mony as betng

rel. i. ab, .e from that potnt onwards. At p. 898 of the

transcri. pt he gave a na, :rati. ve of his recoLl. ecti. .on i. n these

terms=

"Wei. ,. you've had the OPPortuni. ty of readi. rig i. t. T meanwe've gone to some patns to gi. ve you the OPPo, :tuni. ty ofreadi. rig i. t? --- 'Wei. .,. what T mean i. s that we'd startedwi. t. h the newsl. etter, and T rang Mr Cavanagh about thenewsJ. etter, T asked hi. in fi. r'stl. y T thi. nk - basi. cal. Ly the^,.,:st::questton, .was~~:, f. -~that. meet-trig-^gas --st, .1.1. on. Tasked-~-him -whether~the, '$'some~of'the .arguments'. advanced'~,i. n the newsJ. ette, : were sti. 1.1. current. T thi. nk T askedhi. in too whether they were going to be di. scussed at thi. smeeti. rig-,-.~:;', tai. ti'I. y-hits-':--what~-^v. e't:a3^ed~about~~was theamount~~of money tnvoJ. ved. ~~~T kept pushi. rig him on th~a. tjT kept ~aski. rig 'Wei. L how much money. i, s i. .nvo, .ved?'- and Tth:. nk T also asked him over how Long a period the 11. T.government was supposed to have been making thesepayments, and he was very def, .n, .te, ,. n fatrJ. y strongterms, even thi. s bustness of the N. T. government bei. rigdi. shonest, parti. cuLarl. y i. rresponsi. .bl. e. Now ^ rememberthat very cJ. early, and i. t ,. s - you see that was satdseveral. ti. mes, T mean he meriti. oned that a number ofti. mes that he feJ. t that the whoJ. e procedure on the parto^ the 11. in. Government had been ,. rresponsi. bl. e iriso^a, :that he had al. lowed the situati. on of what devel. oped.

Where they were at that stage had run out o:E money orwere--.. Insure whet~berthere---^gas-9:0, .rig--co-be-enough, to meetour obj. i. gati. ons, when the changeove, : was goi. rig to bemade from one public se, :vi. ce to another. So ,. n that

respect T can remember the conversati. on, and T rememberthi. s i. ssue o^ the money, and the senti. merit that wasexpressed, the un, .on of Mr Cavanagh fel. t that the 11. T.Government's who, .e procedure had been i. rresponsi. bl. e.Does that answer your quest1.0n?'

32

, ,

And you meriti. .on a questi. on of an amount of money, di. dyou get an answer to that question? 'yes, because -wei. I. they were - at the time i. t was sti. I. J. ^at. rl. y vague,and from memory T think there was a f, .gure meriti. onedthat T - T don't know, T turned i. t i. nto ini. I. Li. ons ofdo1.1. ars, but ^ thi. nk there was a specific fi. guremerit, .oned, that T coul. dn't check for I. t di. dn't make anysense to me withi. n the context of the statement, and TI. e^t that alone, and T just turned ,. t to a rather moregeneral. sort of phrase of ini. 1.1. ions of doLiars beingi. nvol. ved, rather than two hundred ini. I. Li. on or fi. ftyini. I'LLon - whatever ,. t was, but there was a fi. gu, ,emeriti. oned . T di. d not use i. t but that makes i. t more

general. . ' "

At p. 906 under cross-exami. nati. on by Mr. Water's of

counsel. for the PI. at. nti. ff, the toLl. OWLng eXchange took

PI. aces -

^^^

"Mr. Naessens, i. t's tai. r to say, i. s ,. t not that wi. th thepassage o^ aLl. thi. s ti. me that you are not abJ. e to saywith any particulari. ty what matters you drew ,. nprepar^. rig -your. Iscri. p. t-j what'.'matters. '. you '. drew on the- --newsJ. ette, : P8 and what matters you drew fromMr. Cavanagh, I. sri't that the case? T thi. nk T cou, .d

say that speci. fi. cal. I. y the comments on thei. I:'respon. -SLbi. Lity a3. though~ the~~:concl;IISi. on coll_,. a: have .been ,drawn- from -that paragraph aJ. one, --were repeated--speci. fi. ca, .,:y by -Mr. Cavanagh-as--well. :-. as the reference ~tomoney and the d, .shonesty, that none of th, .s was i. .n thenewsJ. etter. "

Be was pressed by Mr. Waters at p. 91.0 on whether'di. shonest' was hi. s ^. rite, :pretati. on.

"T've drawn your attenti. on to that paragraph there, i. .nputti. rig your own scri. pt together, di. d you ,. riterpret thatas bei. rig a di. shonest act:. on? No, T di. dn't. T asked

Mr. Cavanagh, 'Do you i. s that the way what - i. s thatwhat you're sayi. rig', i. t' s not my triterpretat, .on.Agai. n, T asked Mr. Cavanagh, 'Ts th, .s what you'resayi. rig?' "

At 91.2 in answer to Mr. earnsey, of counsel. for the:Ei. rst defendant, the foJ. .lowi. rig eXchange took PI. aces

^^^

^^^

- .~..~ -.----.-.^~ .

33

. ,

.0. ..-* .. . "

"After you got e>:11i. .bi. t t"8, the newsl. ette, : - at Least thefi. r'st 2 pages of ,. t, you tel. ephoned Mr. Cavanagh, andyou put certa, .n questtons to him, and you enumerated twospeci. fi. cal. Ly, but then dun. rig the convex'sati. on, you toI. dmy fri. end, Mr. Waters, that you coul. d say speci. fi. cal. I. ythat comments on i. ,:,:esponsi. bi. ,. i. ty and money anddi. shonesty were repeated by Mr. Cavanagh? Yes.

Tn those comments di. d he use the word, 'di. shonest'?Most definiteLy.

Di. d he use the word 'di. shonest' i. n rel. atton to thenorthern Tel:.,:i. tory Government? Yes, of course,that's what we were taLki. rig about.

You wi. I. L have to excuse me but we've got to be a Li. .ttJ. epedanti. c - and d, .. d he use the word 'di. shonest' ,. nrel. atton to the Northern merri. tory Government about i. tsintention vi. s-a-vi. s superannuation? Yes.

You recaJ. I. him, as you satd, usi. rig the word'i. rresponsi. bLe ' ? Tn fact he satd that aYes .

coup, .e-of--t=i. .mes, -- MainJ. y-, aecause- T- asked_him about i. t.Because ,. t was one ~concl. uston T had drawn from that

paragraph, and :I asked hi. in, 'Ts that what you'resayi. rig?' and he repeated that.

Did you-. ask. .h. I'm=speei. -f, .cal. J. y--about---- or. -to-the_effect ofthe Northern, :Tern. toI:'y--. Gove, sament---bet, 1/9 -a, .shonest? ----110, he vol. untee, :ed that.

Be vol. untee, :ed the word 'di. shonest' atd he? Yes, Tmean T wou, .aji't have asked him. Tt won, .dn"t- occur'--to'

me because. --a:..--wasn't----. you--know_ F~:that ^.el. :I: ,. nfo, :med onthe whoJ. e i. ssue, ' but t't was~~honesty - di. shonesty. "

As ,.^ to cJ. OSe off the argument of mere i. riterpretati. onhe may have att, :i. .buted 'bi. tte, :I. y' to Mr. Cavanagh andd, .d not.

'Now, i. n exh, .bi. t PI. 0 - that's the ABC news scri. ptcou, .d T ask you to Look at i. t, and i. f you Look at thesecond paragraph, you see the Last phrase. 'but the ACOAExecuti. ve i. s bi. tterLy opposed to the scheme'. Do yourecaLl. Mr. Cavanagh us, .rig the word, 'bi. tterl. y'?"

The answer-..^s on p. 93.5__to. 1.1. owed by more questtons andanswers of rel. evance di. ^fezenti. ati. rig betweenMr. Cavanagh's comments on the phone and mater, .a, . fromthe newsl. etter (Exhi. bi. t P8).

'MR GARNSEYS T was taki. rig you to paragraph 2 of thescri. pt ^or the news ,. tern, Mr. Naessens, that's exhi. bi. t

..

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34

. *.

PIO, and the phrase 'But the ACOA executi. ve i, s bi. tterLyopposed to the scheme'. Do you recal. I. Mr. Cavanaghusi. rig the word 'bi. tterJ. y' when he spoke to you? NO,T don't thi. nk he wouLd've used i. t so much as that i. t'sprobabJ. y my own descri. pti. .on of the tone of the whoLeconversati. .on.

Then the next paragraph states that the unton'si. ridust, :i. al. offi. cer, Mr. Cavanagh, sai. d Last ni. ght that',:'he onI. y th, .rig he woul. d be prepared to accept was asituation whereby the Territory scheme woul. d beavail. abl. e to new members of the Terri. tory Pub, .i. cService, and anybody who ini. ght wish to swi. tch to theAllst, :aLi. .an Government scheme. ' Di. d Mr. Cavanagh saythat, or words to that e^fect to you i. n the conversationto'i. th you? Yes, because that's the substance of thewhole story.

Yes, but do you reca, .I. hi. in sayi. rig that as _opposed to yougett, .rig i. t out of exhi. bi. t P8 the newsJ. etter? NOD "'was - T wou, .d've taken - T took h, .in strai. ght through thewhoJ. e th, .rig and asked hi. in 'You're say, .rig th, .s ,. n thenewsl. ette, :, i. s that what you're sayi. .rig now', so heto'ouJ. d've repeated that.

And then T can use ,. t, then T can say 'HeT see?

sai. d that Last ni. ght'. Tf he hadn't sai. d i. t T wouLd've

i. n some way had to quaJ. ify that and say that came from anews, .et:bet. ,Dr-;.^z:'Qin-. a :, Iews ,_re_,. ease- or. ,whatever-. The

whoLe purpose of ri. rigi. rig hi. .in was to be abJ. e to say 'Lastni. ght he sai. d thi. s'.

So~.'-i;-s .i. t ~ correct ~:t:p _--say. _that:-i. n -the-sortpt, _. when .i. t --qses~ ~.-the words 'Mr Cavanagh satd' or "He satd', that'ssomethi. rig that'Mr Cavanagh ~ei. the, : sat-d i. -n those verywords to you I. n the convex'sati. on, or Mr Cavanagh satd,navi. rig been directed to the app, :op, :Late part of thenewsLette, : 'Yes that' s so' ? ExactLy.

Goi. rig to the Last sentence on page one, 'he cl. aimed thete, :ri. tory government had fail. ed to make adequateempl. oye, : contr, .buti. ons to the Commonweal. th fund, and nowfaced a huge back, .o9 of in, .1.1. tons of do1.1. ars'. Di. d

Mr. Cavanagh say that to you? Yes, because as - thatcane back wi. th the money questi. on.

RTS HONOURS That came back? The money, you know,because .T kept---ask-trig--, hi. in-how-much. moneywas ~invol. ved

and i. t was just too vague and he Left the fi_gureand -

alone and turned ,. t to ini. Ll. ions of doll. ars then ratherthan the ^i. gu, :e that was meriti. oned.

35

. .

Then on the next page, the fi. r'st paragraph, 'Mr Cavanaghsai. d that the government ini. ght be reqtii. red to make LargeLump sum payments to the CommonlyeaJ. th fund, but i. t noLonger had the money'3 di. d Mr Cavanagh say that to youi. n the convex. sati. on? --- yes, that - that referred tothe i. rresponsi. bi. Li. ty.

Yes. Do you recal. I. him sayi. rig the words, 'But thegovernment no Longer has the money?' Yes .

Then the next paragraph he sai. d, 'The TreasurerMr. Perron, had adjni. tted i. n the Legi. SLati. ve assembl. ythat the territory had not forwarded any empLoye, :contri. buti. ons SLnce the estabLi. .shinent of self governmenti. n 1,978, nor has there been any provi. si. on made to hol. dthese moni. es ,. n trust', do you recaLL hi. in sayi. rig that toyou? We, .L, that came from the newsl. ette, :.

Di. d you put those parts of the newsJ. etter to hi. in?Yes.

He satd that he was maintai. ni. rig that? --- Yes, Zwoul. dn't have used i. t i. f he di. dn't. "

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The PI. atnti. ff, for hi. s part, i. n evi. dence-i. n-chi. e:E

was asked whether he recei. ved a telephone cal. ,. from a

journal. i. st emp, .oyed by the ABC. He acknowLedged that he

had received a telephone cal. L from a journal. ,. st call. ed Ilei. I.

11i. s exami. nat, .on-i. n-chi. ef at p. 1.60 proceeded asNaessens.

to 1.1.0ws s -

"Can you recaLl. what he enqui. red of? Yes, I. t was avery - ,. t was Late in the afternoon. Tt was a briefconversation. Naessens satd to me, 'T have yournewsJ. etter. J:s the meeting on Wednesday, 3 Novemberor Wednesday precedi. rig?' T satd, 'Yes. ' T'in justthi. nki. rig now whether that i. n fact - that wouLd've been aSunday - i. t wasn't a Sunday he rang me - i. t was a workday. - i. t must have been theHe rang me at my offi. ceETLday before he rang me. Tt appeared on the fi. r'sti. t was the n, .ght before apparently the arti. cl. e waspubl. i. shed by the ABC. He rang me - he sai. d he had thenewsLetter, was the meeti. rig proceedtrig. T sai. d, 'Yes,i. t was. ' He sai. d coul. d he use the - take extracts from

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36

.I

,

the newsJ. etter i. n my name, and T satd yes, he could.He asked me ,. n words to the ef^ect of, 'What are theamounts of money I. i. kel. y to be i. nvoJ. ved i. f the Tern. to, :yhas to pay the government - or the Commonwea, .thGovernment cont, :,. buttons for this scheme that you referto? ' T satd,

Just pausi. rig there - i's what you're rel. ati. rig nowverbati. in of what he told to you? To the best T can

recal. I. i. t, yes. T satd to hi. in that that would dependupon any fi. naL arrangements i. n ^inarice betng put i. n

He satd, 'CouJ. d i. t be inI, LLi. ons of do1.1. ars?' TPI. ace .sai. d, 'Tf i. t went back to sei. f government, i. t couLd beini. LLi. ons of do, .Jars. ' "

^^^

Thereafter, the piai. nti. ff was examined by hi. s

counsel. potnt-by-po, .nt of the contents of PIO (the tender of

tvhi. ch was limited to i. ts contents as opposed to the fact of

^. t hav, .rig been broadcast over the ABC on any of the

occasi. ons meriti. oned i. n i. t). The PI. at. nti. ff di. d not

expressLy adjni. t to any of the statements attri. buted to hi. in

i. n PI. 03 and overal. .L, hi. s answer to a sen. es of questtons

asked of him, about whether or not he had toI. d Naessens ,. n

so many words what was att, :i. buted to him ,. n the document,

was i. n the negati. ve to every such quest, .on. (Transcri. pt

pages 1.68-1.71. )

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Tt i. s apparent, therefore, that the evi. dence of the

plainti. ff and that 0^ 11aessens i. s diametricaJ. Ly opposed and

hence an ,. ssue of credi. t ari. ses between them.

.-- , .. .-...^

As T have sai. d, the evi. dence of Naessens i. s

cri. ti. caL SLnce the response from the second defendant was

. . .

37

.

cJ. earl. y act, .vated by what was attri. buted to the PI. a, .. nt, .ff in

the transcript of the ABC broadcast. At some stage duri. rig

the day of I Novenibe, : 1982, but before the i, ssue of the

second defendant's press rel. ease, a transcri. pt o^ the ABC

broadcast prepared by Naessens came to the knowJ. edge of thesecond defendant, and T so fi. rid.

Tt becomes necessary, therefore, to try to resol. ve

the i. ssue of credi. t between the PI. atnti. ff and 11aessens.

The PI. atnti. ff was no doubt i. ricensed by what he read on the

back page of the "11. T. News" Later that day ^or the Language

i. n ref. litat. ion:. of::,, hat 'had"been attri. buted. .to--h, .in was strong

and reflected upon hi. s personal. tritegri. ty as a spokesman forthe ACOA. Tt must be borne i. n ini. rid, and T so fi. rid that

the PI. .ai. nti. ff ,. had .not'r-heard~~the"ABC:~. broadcast'On that--day

and at the ti. me he read the i. tern i. .n the "N. T. News" he was

unaware I~Of how hts~ conve, :sati. on wi. -th~ Na6sSenS .had ~:been~'

reported. Matters had aevel. oped I:n the meantime~to-~the-

extent that the second defendant, through hi. .s staff, had

obtai. ned a transcri. pt o^ the ABC broadcasts and the

PI. atnti. ff's news, .etter and had coinpi. Led a press rel. ease i. n

the form of PI. , of whi. ch a truncated versi. on appeared i. n the"11. in. News" .

Accordi. rigl. y, at the ti. me the PI. atnti. ff read the

news item he was unaware of the ful. I. content of both the ABC

broadcasts and of the second defendant's press rel. ease.

38

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Returni. rig to the i. ssue of credi. bi. It. ty teraessens had

no i. rite, ,est i. n the topic of superannuati. on except i. n his

I:'o1. e as a journal. i. st who, on the evi. dence, and T so fi. rid

bel. d a proper ethi. cal. vi. e. g' of his duti. es as a journal. i. st.

As well. , he had graduated i. n Law from a Uni. ve, :si. ty i. n

BOLl. and. Furthermore, T fi. rid that at the rel. evant time he

knew netther the plat. nti. tf nor the second defendant and

barel. y *understood the somewhat coinpJ. i. cated i. ssues i. nvol. ved

i. n the questton of superannuati. on. At the ti. me that he was

cal_Led as a wi. tries s, he was o_utsi. de the-juri. sdi. cti. on where

he couLd not be compel. Led to come to Court. He was far

from sympatheti. c -towards the-. first_ defendant, .and _was _even

hosti. I. e about the approaches that had been made to his

supertors i. n Si. rigapore by Mr. Bogan, the managi. rig edi. .toI:' 0^

the fi. rst defendant a. .to. -, b_ave hi. 111. ,:eJ. .ease_a ,_for _the .. t, ri. a, ...

(Transcri. pt page 91.0. ) Tndeed, he came to gi. ve evi. dence at

great personal. .t. nconveni. ence to hi. mseJ. ^ and was caLl. ed on

bebai. f of the second defendant with I. i. ttl. e prior noti. ce of

the reason for hi. s being cal. Led. Counsel. for the PI. atnti. ff

had had a brief OPPortuni. ty of conferI:. i. rig wi. th hi. in before he

was cal. Led as a wi. triess and hence T conclude that he was

neutral. so far as the parties were concerned. He had no

reason at aLl. to do other than tell. the truth as wei. I. as he

could reca, .l. i. t, and T so fi. rid.

39

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Tt was never put to 11aessens by counsel. for any

party that the news i. tern was a fi. cti. ona, . account or that he

had concocted the story. 11aessens satd i. n evi. dence that he

put the contents of the newsLette, : P8 to the PI. atnti. ff for

comment and that the PI. at. nti. ff agreed wi. th its contents. T

accept hi. s evi. dence.

Tn aLL the ci. rcumstances, therefore ^ prefer the

evidence of the wi. triess teraessens to that of the pi. atnti. ff in

relation to what was_. di. scussed_over the tel. ephone whi. ch T

fi. rid occurred on 31 October 1982 (and not earLi. ex. , as the

PI. at. nti. .ff_.. suggest:, ed, in contrad-jet-ton of tii. s f, .r, st

acknowl. edgment of that date betng the correct date).

--.. The-pLai, nt-i. ^f-'. s dental. ,_of .the contents _of PI. O under

cross-exami. natton (whi. ch T reject) i, s set out at pages

348-350 of- the--transcript,

Tt i. s perhaps not wi. thout SLgni. fi. cance that the

PI. atnt, ..^f obtai. ned a copy of the transcri. pt of PI. O from an

emp, .oyee of the ABC. At no time, however has the

pia, .nti. ff ever cl. aimed that the ABC inLST'ep, :esented him i. n

the vari. ous news broadcasts of I November 1,982 nor, z. n

particuLar, di. d he choose to sue that insti. tuti. on or caLJ.

for an apoLogy or a retracti. on.

40

.

, .

What emerges i. s that the proposed Legi. SLati. on

duri. rig the November s, .tti. .rigs of the Legi. SLati. ve Asseinbl.

would br, .rig about a scheme, wh, .ch both the ACOA Federal.

Secretary, Mr. Munro, and the plainti. ff di. d not want to

proceed, and which had reached the stage of bet. rig i. n fi. nal.

form. (See Exhi. bit P8 and transcript pages 261 and 262).

FederaL Legi. SLati. on was necessary however and an option

was open to the ACOA to seek OPPos, .ti. .on i. n the Senate in

order to frustrate the proposed legi. SLati. on i. n the

Legi. SLati. ve AssembJ. y. - -A-meett-rig. -had"been~cal. Led to di. scuss

the i. ssue and any fai. r readi. rig of the PI. at. nti. ff's newsl. etter

(Exhi. bi. t P8) woul. d i. ridi. cate that he, at Least, was

personal. I. y stoutl. y opposed to i. t aLthough, i. n fai. mess the

questi. on was I. e^t to be deterintried by ACOA members at the

meeti. rig, , -- For i. ts;_ partt, *the -Federa3. ---body of=the-'-ACOA saw'-

the proposed Northern Tel:',:i. toI:. y scheme as a possi. bLe

breakdown of~ superannuation schemes eJ. sewhe, :e. (Transcri. pt

page 424. ) The PI. ai. titi. ff, for hi. s part, wanted more debate

on the subject and, by cal. I. trig the meet, .rig, that i's what he

hoped to achi. eve. Tn consequence, by resort to thi. s

tacti. c, he achieved the desired resul. t (Transcr, .pt p. 408).

The PI. ai. nti. ff had a di. sti. nct inoti. ve, as part of hi. s

job as Tndustri. al. Offi. cer of_ACOA __to_do what_he could to

frustrate the passage o^ the Bi. 1.1. and enter negoti. attons of

wh, .ch he had a consi. derabJ. e triterest i. n hi. s ca aci. t as the

41

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Tndustri. al. . Officer of the ACOA. Zn parti. CUI. aZ, T .f, .rid that

he had a c, .ear inoti. ve to al. Lege, and di. d al. Lege that the

Government had been "di. shonest about i. ts i. ritenti. ons"

"i. rresponsi. bJ. e I. n not meeti. rig i. ts coinni. titlents" "had fatl. ed

to make adequate empJ. oye, : cont, :i. buttons to the CommonweaLth

fund", "and now faced a huge backLog of ini. 1.1. tons of do, .. Lars"

and that "the Government ini. ght be requi. red to make Large

Lump sum payments to the CommonweaLth fund, but no Longer

had the money". Z fi. rid that these words were capabLe of

causi. rig and were intended -to cause uricertai. nty and mistrust

among ACOA member's.

With a meeting scheduJ. ed ^or 12-15 p. in. on

Wednesday, 3 November 1.982, and the ABC broadcast coinJ. rig, as

i. t atd}-:. on-. I. ,--November ~1.982 I',. i. n the. .,, ake--0^ -the 'PI:atnti. ff ' s

newsl. ette, : (P8) of 25 October 1.982, i. t was decepti. ve or

capabJ. e' 0^~decei. v, .rig the-ord-i. na, :, y I. ,. stener of the A. B. -C.

broadcasts-, whi. :ch Z -f, .rid -were -made _on the -morni. rig .of .I

November 1,982. Tt was far from the truth and the

al. ,. egat, .. ons contained i. n those broadcasts were bl. atant, .y

tai. se, as the PI. atnti. f^ conceded at the tri. aL. The fal. se

al. Legations were capabJ. e of destroyi. rig the negotiations

whi. ch were current, .y i. n hand between the Northern Territory

Government and the Commonwealth. Whether i. nspi. .red by

exaggerati. on, ,:beto, :I. c or s, .inPLY an attempt to sabotage

those negoti. ati. ons, T fi. rid that they were triterided by the

PI. a, .nti. ff to bring about that resu, .t.

.

42

$ ,

As a resul. t of the broadcasts and the press

rel. ease, the pi. atnti. ff adini. tted that he was wor, :Led about

hi. s future employment (Transcri. pt p. 1.83) because of the fact

that he knew from gotng through records i. n the nattonaJ.

offi. ce (of the ACOA) that i. t was ,. nevi. tabi. e that a copy of

the press rel. ease woul. d surface i. n the nattona, . of^ice and

he wouLd be caL, .ed upon to gi. ve an expLanati. on (Transcri. pt

p. 1.85) .

On the pLai. .nti. ff's own evi. dence (Transcript p. 348),

the fa, .r i. rite, :pretati. oil of the contents of the ABC broadcast

(PIO) i. s that~i. t sen. ousl. y ini. s^tated the. _tt'ue postti. on of

the Northern Tern. tory Government. Hence i. t cou, .d fatrL

be descri. bed as betng deceitfuJ. . Tndeed, betng so far from

the truth, .. i. .t. was a -fatr -eonnnent-. to--ascri. be sp'itefu, .ness~' as'-

the inoti. vati. rig force on the part of the ori. gi. nator of i. t.

The PI. ai. nti. f^.-titmseJ. f. agreed in-ev-,. dance that the

all. egati. ons i. n i. t were patentLy false and capabJ. e of

destroyi. rig the negottati. ons then in trai. n between the

Northern Tern. tory Government and the Commonwea, .th. Tt

to1.1.0ws that i. f the pLai. nti. f^ were the originator of the

matertai. contai. ned in PI. 0, then hi. s utterances amounted to

what could ^atr, .y be descri. bed as sabotage qua those

negoti. ati. ons ._

43

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The PI. at. nti. ff was probabl. y caught unawares when

asked by Naessens over the telephone to comment upon the

poi. nts ratsed by 11aessens based upon the PI. atnti. ff's

newsl. ette, : (P8) and, for thi. s reason, answered hi. s

i. rite, :vi. ewer with the ardency of a keen barracker and

LittJ. e heed to caut, .on i. n his responses .

The PI. at. nti. .ft cLearLy had a inoti. ve to make spi. tefu, .

aJ. Legati. ons about the Government and the Treasurer i. n

parti. CUI. ar, because, despi. te aLl. hi. s efforts the final.

draft of a superannuation Bi. 1.1. was gotng ^orwa, rd wi. thout

further debate at a ti. me when the pLai. nt, .ff (no doubt for

every good reason as he percei. ved the postt, .on) bel. d such

ent, ,enched views about i. t to the contrary. Tn thi. s I. i. ght,

the p. .ai. nt, ..^f' had=not achi. eved~hi. s object, but despi. te .thi. sir

he c, .earl. y triterided to make a Last di. toh stand at the

forthcomi. rig -meeti. rig on- the-~toll. OWLng Wednesday. Gi. ven the

OPPorttini. ty. .when Naessens tel. ephoned h, .in, T--fi. rid that he. -saw-

thi. s as an OPPortuni. ty to deni. grate the Government scheme

and thi. s expJ. atns hi. s outburst of a hi. gh, .y charged nature as

exempJ. ifi. ed by the contents of PIO. After aJ. I. his

impJ. i. ci. t i. nstructi. ons from Mr. Nun, :o were to achi. eve thi. s

resul. t. The PI. ai. nti. ff had come to Darwi. n on a twenty-one

months' contract and had about si. xteen months' se, rvi. ce

represent, .rig wh, .te COLLar public servants who were a

di. .f^ex. ent group of peopl. e to work wi. th compared wi. th those

gave

44

,

he had represented before. 71'hey were wei. I read and

educated and most of them knew thei. ,: own superannuati. on

requirements. He real. i. sed that they tended to questton and

be cri. ti. cal. of their officers ,. f they thought wron

i. nformati. on was handed out; and he, i. n hi. s term here had

aL, :eady been the subject of ini. nor cri. ti. ci. sin by than. At

the time of the pubLi. cations the platnti. ff had about fi. ve

months of h, .s contract reinai. ni. rig. He was thus on Lintted

tenure and he was keen to achi. eve a resul. t which was to

frustrate the passage o^ the superannuati. on Bi. L, .. Be

ach, .eved that resu, .t and hi. s tenure was extended.

The questton ini. ght weLl. be asked what possi. bl. e

inoti. ve coul. d 11aessens have i. n faLsel. y stat, .rig matters that

prectsel. y -served -tile--pLa. ^*.-nti. -.!::f-,-s -needs -^. n ,achi. ev, .rig ' the - -

resuJ. t whi. ch he so desperateI. y sought? I: find that

11aessens had no possi. b, .e motive to report -what he di. d unJ. ess

he had been toLd those thi. rigs by the pLa, .nti. ^f. I:t wou, .d

have been not onI. y unethi. cal. but journal. i. sti. c

i. rresponsi. .bi. I. i. ty of the hi. ghest order to have attri. buted

such trenchant cr, .ti. ci. sin of the Government to the platnti. .ff

unl. ess the pLai. nt, .ff binsel. f had said those thi. rigs. T

accept Naessens' evi. .dence that he "c, .eared" hi. s copy byi. th

the pi. atnti. ff. _be^;g, :. e_.,. t, was .broad. cast, ..._.

\

.. --.~ ~ ~

45

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As T have aJ. ready observed, the plainti. ff at no

time threatened to sue the ABC, Let alone sought an apoLog

or retract, .on from ^. t3 nor di. d he ever coinpJ. atn to 11aessens

that he had been ini. squoted or fal. sei. y represented.

Tt i. s cl. ear from the di. sseini. natton of the ABC

broadcast (PIO) and the added excerpt of the press rel. ease

whi. ch appeared as a Late news i. tern (P2) i. n the "11. T. News"

that fear was created amongst the members of the ACOA and

amongst meltibers of the generaL publ. i. c who had an i. riterest ,. n--

responsi. bl. e government.

Tf, as T find i. s the case, the PI. ai. nti. f^ sai. d the

words attri. buted to hi. in i. n PI. 0, then i. n the I. i. ght of what he

satd i, n revtderLce_--a, bibtie tartaJ. -,=;namel. y -^that the_y were_ mostI. y

^aLse, i. t foJ. ,. ows that he wi. I. full. y spread uricertai. nty and

ini. strust of the Government and the Treasurer i. n parti. cuLar

among member's of -the IACOA^and of the general. --pubJ. i. c who-had

an i. rite, :est I. n responsi. bLe government. T fi. rid, therefore

that his words were both ,.,:,:esponsi. bl. e and i. rideed reckJ. ess.

T fi. rid aJ. so that he had a personaL triterest i. n doi. rig so

because o^ the Jimi. tea nature of hi. s tenure of offi. ce at the

rel. evant ti. me. Moreover, i. t foJ. Lows, and T so fi. rid, that

he was di. shonest ,. n h, .s utterances about the merri. toI:'y betng

faced with a huge backLog of payments i. nvoLv, .rig ini. L, .i. ons o^

doll. ars, whi. ch, i. n ordtnary basi. c parJ. ance coul. d be apt, .y

descr, .bed as a bare-faced Ite.

46

,

Tn vi. ew of the fi. ridings of fact whi. ch T have made,

T concJ. ude that the pLai. nti. ff di. d say what 11aessens

attributed to him.

App, .yi. rig the tests to whi. ch T have referred

earLi. er, whi. I. e T am prepared to fi. rid that the mean, .rig gLven

to the words and imputations contai. ned i. n P. 2 are capabJ. e o^

convey, .rig a def^natory meaning to the ordi. na, :y reasonabLe

man of ordi. nary i. riteLJ. i. gence, drawi. rig on hi. s own knowJ. edge

and expertence-of --human atfatr-s-,- -{and-.;t:--so--hoJ. d)--what- was- --.-_____

sai. d of and concerni. rig the PI. ai. nti. ff in P. 2 was fair

comment .on matters of pubi. i. c. i. riterest as aLLeged i. n

paragraph 4 0:E the ^i. rst defendant's Amended Defence SLnce

on the evi. dence, T f, .rid aJ. ,. of the facts particuJ. an. zed

therei:n .proneri-'-and. aji-;abs;en^e. -'trial. 'tce_on_. the- part' of' the

f, .rst defendant.

of fa, .,: comment made in good fatth on a matter of pub, .i. c

trite, :est, Xi. rig C. a'. said ,. n Pr ke and Others v Adve, :ti. se, :

Tn expJ. atni. rig the rati. onal. e underLyi. rig 'the defence

News a ex's Li. ini. ted and Others (1984) 37 SASR 1.75 at p. ,. 91.8-

"The defence of fat, : comment i. s the means by whi. ch theLaw protects ^rom acti. ons for defamati. on the ^Teeexpressi. OILo. ;E--Dpi. Titon-^-s- to- pubL. i. c matters . Tt

protects even defarnatory reflecti. ons on the conduct andcharacter of publ. i. c fi. gures and those engaged i. n pubJ. i. cacti. vi. ti. es provi. ded that the vi. ews expressed are vi. ewswhi. ch might be heLd by a fai. r-ini. rided person. A greatdeal. of I. ati. tude i. s permi. tted to those who engage i. ncri. tici. .sin of the conduct and character of persons i. n the

47

. *. *

publ. i. c arena. The CTi. t, .CISm must be such as might bemade by a fatr-minded person, but the Law makesconsi. derabLe all. owance for the prejudi. ce and bi. as to befound even in generaLJ. y fair-ini. rided persons' Tiledoct, :i. ne of tai. r comment therefore provi. des extens, .veprotecti. on to ci. ti. zens who express opLnz. ons, evenunfounded opi. ni. ons, on matters of publ. i. c i. riterest and tothe newspapers and others who di. ssezni. nate thoseop^. ni. ons . "

Z respect^u, .Ly agree wi. th, and adopt, these

observati. ons .

Upon _a cri. ti. cal. anal. ysi. s of PI, T am sati. sfi. ed that

whi. I. e those parts of ,. t whi. ch refLect upon the PI. ai. nt, .ff's

tritegri. ty are -capabJ. e of a def-^natory meani. rig .-a defence- of

fat. ,: comment i. s, for the same reasons, open to the second

de^endant. Tn parti. CUI. a, ,, T fi. rid that the second defendant

has estabLi. shed that the facts stated i. n the- fi. r, st seventh

ei. ghth and tweJ. ^th paragraphs thereof were true and that the

reinai. ni. rig paragraphs -amounted to -comment .upon-those ^acts. '

tvhi. ch was .bona tide and fair comment o11-a matter of pubLi. c

interest. The comments were based partly on the facts

express, .y stated i. n PI. i. tsel. f and, to a Lesser extent on

matters of general. notori. ety and were thus, I. n one way or

another, made known to those who read the press reLease to

judge for themsei. ves whether they agreed wi. th the publ. i. shed

Dpi. ni. on based upon that materi. aL.

. .

48

* ,

Tn my op, .ni. on, i. n the rather exceptional.

ci. rcumstances of thi. s case and havi. rig regard to the wide

i. inPI. i. cat, .ons of the Northern rer, :i. to, :y Government's capaci. ty

or otherwi. se to fi. nance a superannuati. on scheme of great

proportions and the consequenti. al. effects upon the general.

pubJ. i. c of the Northern Terri. tory, both as taxpayers and as

restdents who, i. n the pubJ. i. c i. rite, :est, had a ri. ght to be

kept i. nformed of such matters, the second de^endant as

Treasurer, was under both a SOCi. aL and moral. duty i. n the

I. i. ght of the pLai. .nti. f^'s newsl. ette, : and the ABC radi. o

broadcasts, to publ. i. sh antnuned, .ate. and convi. nci. rig pubLi. c

refutati. on. of the _-PI. atnt, .^^ '~-s. -aJ. I. e^galL, one'~:~. Moreover, the

fi. r'st defendant had a corresponding public duty to i. nfo, =in

the generaL- pubL, .c o^ the Treasurer's response ^or the sane

T therefore ho, .d .that the occas, .on wasreasons.

pi:i. vi. Leged, that there was no inaLi. ce on the part of either

the fi. rst or second defendant and the 'defence of qual. i. fi. ed

pri. vi. Lege has been made out by each of ~theiri.

to 1.1.0ws s -

Sect, .ons 6 and 6A of the Defarnati. on Act provide

"6. PRTVTL, EGE OF NEWSPAPER REPORTS OF PROCEEDTNGS OFPUBl. ,TC MEETTNGS AND OF CERTATN BODTES AND PERSONS

(I. ) A fat, : and accurate report publ. ished i. n~anynewspaper of the proceedings of

(a) a pubJ. i. c meeti. rig;

as

49

,, , ,

(b) any meeti. rig (not being a meet, .rig to whichnei. ther the pubJ. i. c nor any newspaper reporteri. s adrni. tted) of a inuni. ci. paL or di. st, :i. ctcounci. I. , school. comintttee or board of advi. ce,board of heal. th, board or Local. authori. .tyformed or consti. tuted under the provi. SLons ofany Law i. n force i. n the Tern. tory, or of anycommittee appointed by any of theabove-meriti. .oned bodi. .es3

(ba) a meeti. rig of the Leg, .SLati. ve Assembl. y or of acomintttee of that Assernb, .y;

(c) a meeting i. n the Territory of any ,:oyaLcoinmi. ssi. .on or sei. ect committee of e, .ther Houseof the ParJ. i. ament of the CommonweaJ. th; or

(d) a meeti. rig of sharehol. ders i. n any bank ori. ncorpo, :ated company,

and the pubJ. i. cati. on at the request of any Governmentoffi. ce or department, or at the request of the Mi. ni. ster,the Adjni. ni. strator -or__the Coinni. -ssi. Drier of Pol. i. ce, _ of. .anynoti. ce or report--tssued by~_i. t or him for the ,. nformati. onof the publ. i. c, sha, .I. be pr, .vi. Leged unLess ,. t i. s provedthat the report or publ. i. cation was publ. i. shed or mademai. i. ci. ous I. y s

Provi. ded that -

(a) nothing i. n -th, .-s sect, .on sha, .I. authori. zethe pubLi. cati. on of any bLaspheinous or

-- ,. ridecen_t. matter3

-------{-b)--the -protection afforded by this secti. onsha, .,. not be avai. Labl. e as a defence i. n

any proceedtrigs ,. f i. t i's proved that thedefendant was requested to i. risert, i. n thenewspaper i. n which the report or otherpubl. i. .cati. on coinpJ. ai. ned of appeared, areasonabJ. e Letter or statement by way ofcontradi. cti. on or exp, .anati. on of thereport or other pub, .i. cat, .. on, and refusedor neg, .ected to i. risert the Letter orstatement;

(c) nothi. rig i. n thi. s section shal. ,. be deemedor construed to Limit or abridge anyprtv, .Lege now by Law ex, .. sti. .rig, or toprotect the pubJ. i. cation of any matter notof pubJ. i. c concern and the publ. ,.. cati. on ofwhi. ch i, s not for the pubJ. i. c benefi. t.

50

.- ,

(2) For the purposes of thi. s secti. on, 'pub, .i. cmeeti. rig' means any meeti. rig bona fi. de and Lawfu, .I. y bel. dfor a lawful. purpose, and for the furtherance ordi. scussi. on of any matter of publ. i. c concern, whether theadzni. SSLon thereto be general. or restri. cted.

6A. FATR COMME:NT

Fair comment shaLl. be prtvi. ,. eged i. f i. t i. s pubLi. shedLn respect of -

(a) any of the matters with respect to which afatr and accurate report or publ. ,. cati. on i. spri. vi. Leged under secti. on 63

the pubJ. i. c conduct of any person who takespart i. n publ. i. c affai. rs, or the character ofany such person, so far as hi. s characterappears i. n that conduct3

the conduct of any pubJ. i. c of^i. cer or pubJ. i. cservant i. n the di. scharge of hi. s pubL, .c

-----functi. onsT--or the character of any suchperson, so far as his character appears J. nthat conduct3

(b)

(c )

Detainati. on Act wouJ. d not, tn my opi. ni. on ' halle ava~i. Led the

. . .,,

fi. r'st defendant because of ~ the edi. ted and ~truncated~~form of. --.--

P2, (for the reasons gi. ven by the major, .ty ,. n Hook's case

Even though the statutory def'ence under s. 6A of the

(supra) at p. 490, and by Street J. (as he then was) i. n

Cam bel. ,. v Associ. ated News a ers (1948) 48 SR (N. S. W) 301 at

p. 304), T ho, .d that having regard to the def, .n, .ti. on of

", report" i. n the Conci. se Oxford Di. cti. onary, vi. z "Account

given or^pinton formal. ,. y expressed after i. nvesti. gati. on or

Consi. derati. On Or COLLati. on of i. nformati. on, descri. pti. on or

ep, .tome or rep, :oduct, .on o^ scene or speech or Law case es .

.

5I

A .. ,

for newspaper publ. z. cati. on", a report under 8.6 i. s an

"account gi. ven after consi. derati. on of i. nfo, :mati. on especi. al. Iy

for newspaper publ. i. cati. on". (cf. the obi. te, : di. ctum of

T fi. rid that PIDa. vi. es a'. i. n Hook's case (supra) at p. 495. )

was, and i. s, such a report i. ssued by the second defendant,

as Treasurer, (who was the appropri. ate In. ni. ste, :), for the

i. n:torinati. on of the publ. I. c, a^ter consi. derat, .on of the

i. nformati. on conta. i. ned i. n PIO, that i. t was not publ. ished or

made inaLi. ci. ousLy, that, so far as the second defendant was

concerned, the provisos to s. 6 di. d not __appLy and .accordi. rigLy

i. s p, :i. vi. Leged. Tn parti. .CUI. ar, the Letter to the second

defendant from the PI. ai. nti. ^^'s SOLi. ci. tor__dated, 8_Jlovember

1982 (PI3), does not, i. n my opi. ni. on, fall. wi. thi. n the purvi. ew

o:E paragraph (b) of the proviso to s. 6 SLnce i. t cal. Led for

an ap. o1. Qgy--as--opposed'-to '!aji:,:easonabJ;e--Letter -or -expl. -anati. on

o^ the report or other pubLi. cati. on". (The_sharp pot. nt of

contradi. st. i. nct, .on- i. s borne~out when ss. 8 and ~9 _are borne i. n

ini. rid. ) . Moreover, '~by -vi. rtue of s. 6A, the second defendant's

tai. I:' comment ,. s pr^. vi. Leged under that section as wei. ,. since

T hol. d that it was pubLi. shed i. n respect of the pubL, .c

conduct of the pi. atnti. ff (whom Z fi. rid took part i. n pub, .i. c

atfat, :s at aJ. I. material. ti. mes) and the character of the

PI. atnti. .^f, so far as hi. s character appears i. n that conduct

whi. ch T fi. rid was as the second defendant stated_it to be by

hi. s comments.

52

, . t

The PI. a, .nti. ff, for hi. s part, was obvi. ous, .y i. ricensed

by the Late news i. tern (P2) and by the second defendant's

press rel. ease (PI. ) tvhi. ch he subsequently saw and on tvhi. ch

the news i. terns was, :.. n part, based. The piai. nti. ff's

SOLi. ci. tors cal. Led for an apoJ. o9y from both defendants by

separate Letters dated 8 November 1982 a demand which was

1.9nored based, undoubtedLy, on LegaL advi. ce.

CJ. aims for damages for de^anati. on generate a good

deaL of heat. _ Tn -human affai. rs acti. on tends to be met wi. th

reacti. on. That i. s preci. sei. y what has happened here. On

the one hand, there was the Treasurer on the other, a unton

offi. ci. .aJ. , both di. anetri. cal. I. y opposed i. n out, .o0k and each

champi. on, .rig the cause of those whose :. rite, :ests he

represented. - _;A. s- a-,,:I. esul, t, a. great- vo, .-ume--of -ev. i. dence was

given whi. ch rel. ated to the protracted negoti. ations ,. nvol. vi. rig

the Government','-the PubL:. c Servi. ce ~(both CommonweaJ. th and

Tern. tory) and the app, :opri. ate 11n, .on-s-on -bebai. f of the-i. r

respecti. ve members. A1. though thi. s background took on

i. umense proporti. ons i. n the initnds of the parties to thi. s

acti. on, T do not propose recapi. tul. attrig events, whi. ch to my

ini. rid, on, .y serve to highLi. ght the great guJ. fs which have

Separated them SLnce seLf-government. I'd. th these

prefatory remarks, T proceed to aeaL with the second

defendant' s counter-cLai. 111.

53

A " ,

T f, .rid , on the evi. dence, that al. I. the words

coinpl. atned of i. n paragraphs 18 and 1.9 of the counter-c, .. ai. in

i. n their natural. and ordi. nary meantng, as understood by a

reasonabJ. e person, are capabJ. e of bei. rig, and are, def^natory

of the second defendant and contai. n the i. inPI. ICati. ons in

paragraph 2, . of the counter-c, .aim and were publ. i. shed as

aLl. eged, to members of the ACOA. and to 11aessens

respecti. veJ. y . Tn the case of the member's of the ACOA the

pubLi. cati. on was of the pLai. nti. ff's news, .etter (P8) and i. n

the case of Naessens, both (P8)- and the PI. at. nti. ff's- remarks

dur, .rig his tel. ephone conversation with him.

under s. 6A. (c) of the Defarnati. on Act in respect of the

excerpt *^.,:Qin'_, the. .newsletter (P8) -aLJ. ;eged *^;ri-. paragraph 1:8 0^

the counter-cl. atin and as PI. eaded ,. n paragraph 1.0 of the

pLa, .nti. ff'-s ,de_^errce thereto, 'fatl. s3 SLnce, despi. te the

evi. dence of Ms June D'Rozari. o of the purported error i. .n the

recording of the questton of the second defendant as

Treasurer, i. n the Legi. SLati. ve Asseinb, .y on 1.2 October 1,982

and recorded at p. 1.01.2 of Hansard (Exhi. bi. t P7), the second

defendant's cJ. ear and unequi. vocal. answer as recorded and to

which he testi. fi. ed as betng accurate, was gi. ven i. n respect

of "em 1.0 ee" contri. buti. ons, al. one, _. i. l:I__cozi_tradi. stir}odortto_

T hoJ. d that the statutory defence of fat, r comment

"any empJ. oyer cont, :i. buti. on" i. n the publ. i. .cati. on coinpLai. ned

of. Hence, the factual. basts, or sub-stratum on whi. ch the

54

~ ^ .

PI. atnti. ff's defamato, :y comments were predi. cated were fa, .se

and accordi. rigJ. y the defence of fai. r comment tai. Ls for that

reason alone.

A1. though i. neJ. egantl. y pLeaded, T am prepared to hol. d

that the pLa, .nti. ff's defence of qual. i. fi. ed prtvi. Lege attaches

to hi. s newsLette, : (P8) al. one, notwi. aistandi. rig the def^natory

materi. aL contai. ned i. n i. t, of and concerni. rig the second

defendant, SLnce, at the ti. me of ,. ts pubJ. i. cation to the

membershi. p o^ ACOA the plat. nti. ff shared a duty to report

events to the members of the ACOA who had a correspondi. rig

duty to recei. ve that i. nformati. on3- and al. though the

PI. ai. nti. ff was forceful. i. n hi. s asserti. ons and unjustLy

ini. si. rite, :preted the report i. .n Bansard and was hence ini. sgui. ded

by ~hi. s- ent. bust. asmi, '~,: nonethel. ess 'fi. rid that he was not then

actuated by inaJ. i. ce as was subsequentLy the case when he

spoke to Naessens by which ~ti. me the meeting .he hadcal. -Led

for members of the ACOA"was fast~- approachi. rig. ^--

There was no evi. dence before me of the extent of

the pubJ. i. cati. on of the defaniatory oral. materi. al. aJ. Leged i. n

paragraph 19 of the counter-cLai. in beyond that made to

Naessens persona, .I. y (and evidenced by the contents of PI. 0)

as opposed to the broadcasts themsei. ves o^ the contents of

PI. O by the ABC.

55

H^ .~

Just as i. n the case of the PI. at. nti. ff, the second

defendant, for reasons und, .scl. OSed, has not sued the ABC ^or

pub, .. i. cat, .on of the def^natory remarks made agai. nst hi. in.

Tn the resul. t, T fi. rid for the second defendant

agai. nst the pi. ai. nti. ff on the I. i. ini. ted bas:. s of a SLander

uttered to 11aessens, who, for hi. s part, carri. ed out hi. s

professi. onaJ. duti. es as he percei. ved them to be. The second

defendant's damages are accordi. rigJ. y confi. ned to the Li. Ini. ted

pub, .i. cati. on o^ the pLai. nti. ff's detainatory remarks to

Tn aJ. I. the ci. rcumstances, however, havi. rig regardNaessens.

to the second defendant's hi. gh offi. ce at the reLevant ti. me

and the PI. atnti. ff's foreseeabJ. e real. i. zati. on of the

potenti. al. ,. ty of wi. de di. ssemi. nati. on by a I:'adj. o journal. i. st,

(whi. ch T -fi. -rid_to-_be. .the~case)-,;--T. assess danages--at. $1.0. ,000_,

.

Accordi. rigl. y, there wi. ,. I. be judgment :Eo, :_the fi. r'st

and second defendants against~the PI. a, .nti. ff on the cLa^I and

judgment for the second defendant agai. nst the PI. ai. nt, .^f on

the counter-cl. ai. in for damages assessed at $10,000. The

fi. r'st defendant's c, .aim agai. nst the second defendant for

contri. buti. on and i. ridemn^. ty is di. sini. ssed.

Tt toLLCws that the fi. rst and second defendants

must have thei. ,: costs of acti. on agai. nst the pi. ai. .nti. ff and

that the second defendant have hi. s costs of act, .on agai. nst

the plat. nti. ^f on the counter-cl. aim. Order accordi. rigJ. y.

56