Visscher v Maritime Union of Australia (No 2)

In the case of Visscher v Maritime Union of Australia, the dispute revolved around an allegation of defamation published by the Maritime Union of Australia. The plaintiff, Mr Visscher, claimed that the defendant union had defamed him through a web page that was accessible to the public. The case was heard in the Federal Court of Australia, which was tasked with determining whether the union's actions constituted defamation and if the tender of a reader's response on the web page had any bearing on the defamation claim.

The central legal issues before the court were whether the content published by the union was defamatory and if the tender of a reader's response, which mirrored the content in question, could be considered in determining the defamatory nature of the publication. The court had to assess the potential harm caused by the publication to the plaintiff's reputation and whether the publication was made with the intention to defame him. Furthermore, the court needed to consider if the reader's response, which was identical to the complained-of content, could be seen as an additional publication that might impact the defamation claim.

The court found that the content published by the union was indeed defamatory, as it had the potential to harm Mr Visscher's reputation. The court also determined that the tender of the reader's response on the web page did not introduce any new question of principle in the defamation claim. The court concluded that the reader's response, being identical to the content already published, did not alter the defamatory nature of the publication. Consequently, the court upheld the defamation claim against the Maritime Union of Australia. As a result, the court ordered the union to take down the defamatory content from its web page and to publish an apology to Mr Visscher for the harm caused.