Monte v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd (No.2)

In *Monte v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd (No.2)*, the Federal Court of Australia considered a defamation claim brought by Mr. Monte against Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd. The dispute arose from articles published by Fairfax which Mr. Monte alleged were defamatory.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the defence of qualified privilege was available to Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd in relation to the defamatory publications. This involved determining whether the occasion of publication was one of qualified privilege and, if so, whether the defendant had acted with malice.

Judge Driver found that the occasion of publication was not one of qualified privilege. The Court reasoned that the publications were not made in response to a duty or interest that would attract qualified privilege. Consequently, the defence was not available to the defendant.

The Court therefore found in favour of the plaintiff, Mr. Monte, on the issue of qualified privilege.