Daily Examiner Pty Ltd v Mundine

The Daily Examiner Pty Ltd (appellants) appealed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal against findings made by a primary judge in defamation proceedings brought by Mr Mundine (respondent). The dispute concerned the publication of material by the appellants which the respondent alleged was defamatory. The appeal raised questions regarding the application of common law qualified privilege and statutory qualified privilege under section 30 of the *Defamation Act 2005* (NSW).

The primary legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the primary judge had erred in finding that the publication of the material was to the "world at large" and whether any publication to recipients who would not identify the respondent was merely incidental. Further, the Court was required to determine whether the appellants' conduct in publishing the material was reasonable in the circumstances, applying the principles established in *Reynolds v Time Newspapers Ltd*, for the purposes of statutory qualified privilege. The appellants also sought an extension of time to file their notices of appeal.

The Court of Appeal refused the appellants' applications for an extension of time to file their notices of appeal. Consequently, the appeal proceedings were dismissed. The appellants were ordered to pay the respondent's costs of the applications for extension of time and of the appeal proceedings generally.