Della Bosca v Arena

The case of Della Bosca v Arena was heard by the Federal Court of Australia. The appellant, Della Bosca, sought to appeal against a decision of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, which had dismissed her defamation action against the respondent, Arena. The basis of the defamation action was statements made by Arena to the Australian Labor Party Caucus, which were later published in Hansard. The statements were made outside of parliamentary proceedings, and Arena sought to rely on absolute privilege as a defence.

The central legal issue before the court was whether statements made to the ALP Caucus were protected by absolute privilege. The court also had to determine whether the adoption of these statements in Parliament, and the tendering of Hansard as a matter of history, could impact the scope of the privilege. Furthermore, the court had to consider whether the circumstances of the case warranted the grant of a permanent stay of the defamation proceedings.

The court held that the statements made to the ALP Caucus were not protected by absolute privilege, as they were not made in the actual proceedings of Parliament or a parliamentary committee. The court also found that the adoption of these statements in Parliament, and the tendering of Hansard as a matter of history, did not extend the scope of the privilege. As such, the court dismissed the appeal and upheld the decision of the Federal Circuit Court. The court declined to grant a permanent stay of the defamation proceedings, finding that the circumstances did not warrant such an extraordinary remedy.