Her Majesty's Attorney General for New South Wales v Radio 2UE Sydney Pty Ltd and Alan Jones

The Attorney-General for New South Wales, acting on behalf of the Crown, brought proceedings against Radio 2UE Sydney Pty Ltd and its broadcaster Alan Jones. The dispute concerned allegations that Radio 2UE and Mr Jones had published defamatory material concerning the New South Wales Police Force. The matter was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Court of Appeal.

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the trial judge had erred in finding that the statements published by Radio 2UE and Mr Jones were defamatory of the New South Wales Police Force, and whether the defence of qualified privilege was available to the defendants. The court was also required to consider the extent to which the reputation of individual police officers could be affected by statements made about the Police Force as a whole.

The Court of Appeal, in its reasoning, affirmed that a statement could be defamatory of a body of persons, such as a police force, if it would tend to injure the reputation of its members in their respective offices or callings. The court analysed the specific statements made by Mr Jones and concluded that they were capable of conveying a defamatory imputation concerning the integrity and competence of the police force. Regarding qualified privilege, the court found that while the defendants had a duty to inform the public, the manner in which the information was conveyed and the extent of the allegations exceeded the bounds of what was reasonably necessary for the discharge of that duty, thus vitiating the privilege.

The Court of Appeal upheld the trial judge's finding of defamation and dismissed the appeal.