Australian Consolidated Press Ltd v Uren

Australian Consolidated Press Ltd (ACP) appealed to the High Court of Australia from a judgment of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, which had awarded damages to Mr. Uren for libel. The libel arose from an article published by ACP in *The Daily Telegraph* newspaper, which Mr. Uren alleged was defamatory of him.

The High Court was required to determine whether the article, as published, bore a defamatory meaning concerning Mr. Uren. Specifically, the court had to consider whether the words used, in their ordinary and natural meaning, conveyed a defamatory imputation about Mr. Uren's character or reputation.

The High Court, in a majority decision, found that the article did not bear a defamatory meaning. The judges reasoned that the ordinary reader of the article would not have understood it to convey the imputations of dishonesty or disloyalty that Mr. Uren alleged. The court applied the principle that a publication is only defamatory if it lowers the plaintiff in the estimation of right-thinking members of society generally, and that the meaning must be derived from the words themselves as ordinarily understood. The appeal was allowed, and the judgment of the Supreme Court of New South Wales was set aside.