Macquarie Bank Limited v Nationwide News Pty Limited

In the case of Macquarie Bank Limited v Nationwide News Pty Limited, Macquarie Bank brought an action against Nationwide News and its journalist, Chris Masters, for defamation arising from a newspaper article published by Nationwide News in The Australian newspaper. The article contained several imputations of illegal conduct, which Macquarie Bank claimed were defamatory. The central issue was whether the published material was capable of conveying the defamatory imputations and, if so, whether the defence of truth applied.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the published article contained imputations that were defamatory of Macquarie Bank. The court had to determine if the words used in the article conveyed the necessary defamatory meaning to a reasonable reader and, if they did, whether the defence of truth was available to the defendants. The defence of truth requires that the imputations be proved to be true in every particular. If the defence of truth was available and successful, the defamation claim would fail.

The court found that the article did convey defamatory imputations, including that Macquarie Bank had engaged in illegal conduct, which could lower the bank's reputation in the eyes of right-thinking members of the public. However, the court also found that the defence of truth was available and was successful. The defendants had presented evidence that substantiated the imputations made in the article. As a result, the court dismissed Macquarie Bank's claim with costs.