Moriarty & Wortley v Advertiser Newspapers Ltd No. DCCIV-96-865 Judgment No. D3843

In the District Court, Daniel Moriarty and Russell Wortley sought damages for defamation against the Advertiser Newspapers Ltd for a newspaper article published on the 27th November 1995. The plaintiffs were union officials accused of having negotiated a sweetheart deal with their employer. The article, written by David Penberthy, reported on the shelving of a proposed parliamentary enquiry into the allegations. The court found the article to be defamatory and held that the Advertiser was not entitled to the defence of qualified privilege as it had not acted reasonably by failing to contact the plaintiffs to give them an opportunity to respond before the article was published. The court also held that the refusal of the Advertiser to publish a letter of response to the article rendered the defence unavailable. The plaintiffs were awarded general damages of $60,000 each, plus interest.