Former Victorian Liberal treasurer scores defamation win
Former Victorian Liberal Party treasurer David Mond has successfully sued The Age for defamation, with a Federal Court judge finding two out of three articles in question carried defamatory imputations.
Mond sued this masthead along with publisher Fairfax Media and journalists Stephen Brook and Samantha Hutchinson over a series of CBD columns published in May 2021, December 2021 and February 2022.
The items discussed internal politics at the Caulfield Hebrew Congregation, also known as Caulfield Shule, where Mond was a board president, and dealings with other members.
Justice Michael Wheelahan delivered his judgment on Thursday, finding there were no defamatory imputations in relation to the first article, published in May 2021.
This article dealt with a decision to invite convicted spy Jonathan Pollard to deliver an online address to mark the anniversary of the reunification of the Old City of Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War. This is known as Jerusalem Day.
Wheelahan found the column items published in December 2021 and February 2022, however, were defamatory of Mond. These items have been removed from The Age website, but the May column item remains online.
'I have concluded the applicant did establish he suffered serious harm,' Wheelahan said in court on Thursday.
He said there were 'threads or stings' in the articles that supported the defamatory imputations.
'The two main stings are firstly, a claim the applicant did not consult Rabbi [Ralph] Genende in relation to a proposal to host Jonathon Pollard as a guest speaker at a Jerusalem Day event at the Caulfield Shule.
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