A decision to fight defamation charges in court will cost the Benalla Ensign thousands of dollars in extra damages and legal costs.
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It was revealed in Melbourne County Court on Thursday that Sophie Mirabella had last year offered to accept $150,000 plus legal costs if the case was settled.
That offer was rejected and Judge Michael Macnamara went on to award $175,000 in damages after a trial.
He found an April 2016 story, which claimed Mrs Mirabella pushed Indi MP Cathy McGowan out of the way, was defamatory.
The only settlement offer the Ensign made, six weeks after the defamation complaint was filed in 2017, was to pay Mrs Mirabella $5364.
Mrs Mirabella’s barrister Georgina Schoff said that offer was unreasonable.
“It’s a derisory amount, especially in defamation proceedings it provides no vindication whatsoever,” she said. “It doesn’t even cover Mrs Mirabella’s costs.”
Mrs Mirabella had also requested an apology from the Ensign for implying she was a bully and physically aggressive with other politicians, and claiming the story was “substantially true” because she actually pushed Aged Care Minister Ken Wyatt – an assertion eventually rejected by the jury.
Judge Macnamara said it was reasonable for the Ensign to reject the elaborate apology, but should have used it to start negotiations.
Instead, the Ensign did not respond at all to the letter and settlement offer of $150,000.
The judge ruled this showed the defence did not make a reasonable attempt to settle the case before court and should pay a significant amount of Mrs Mirabella’s costs on an indemnity basis.
The payment will include fees for two days of conferences between Mrs Mirabella’s legal team and witnesses, plus six days of a trial, which cost more than $7000 per day. Judge Macnamara will make a ruling on the exact amount for the Ensign to pay at a later date.
Neither Mrs Mirabella nor representatives from the Ensign were in court on Thursday as their legal representatives argued about costs.
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