Crispin Hull

The Opposition spokesman on industry and commerce, Ian McLachlan, has won a large defamation settlement from Rural Press Limited.

Mr McLachlan began action in the ACT Supreme Court after the now-defunct Australian Rural Times asserted in August, 1990, he had shown a confidential letter on Liberal party policy to the then Labor Minister for Primary Industry, John Kerin, and that Mr McLachlan was known as the Labor Member for Barker.

It is understood the case has cost Rural Press about $250,000 in legal fees and the settlement, leaving Mr McLachlan around $80,000. These figures, however, would not be confirmed because the settlement was not to be disclosed.
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The states have not won an ingenious legal-financial trick since Geoffrey Sawer told them how to raise tobacco taxes in the 1970s.

The Commonwealth, on the other hand, has been flush with new tricks. The latest is the Superannuation Guarantee Levy, which passed into law this week.

While most have rightly concentrated on the three most important things in politics these days (jobs, jobs and jobs), the super levy has some longer term implications for Australia, not only ensuring that the soon-to-be retirement-boomers pay their own way.
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Public officials often incur legal costs in the course of their public duty. When that happens the public must pay. It is in the public interest that public officials not expose their own pockets to defend actions taken against them over the execution of their duty. Otherwise, good people will be reluctant to take public positions. This is not cant. The threat of being sued in these days of astronomic legal fees can damp the most public-spirited of people.

That said, there is a limit. Public provision of legal costs should be a shield, not a sword. Two illustrations were revealed this week. One of the first announcements by the new NSW Premier, John Fahey, was that the Government would pay the legal costs of Nick Greiner and Tim Moore to challenge the findings of the Independent Commission Against Corruption. The other was the decision by the board of the Civil Aviation Authority to help with legal costs of two senior managers who had allegedly been defamed.

The latter is clearly bad in principle. Public administration would not be affected one iota if they did not sue. The public purse should not provide for first-instance plaintiffs. However, if they were being sued, if they were defendants, it would be different. The public purse (within reason) should be opened to them to defend a defamation action arising out of their public duty.
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There was a tide in the affairs of NSW that if taken at the flood in 1988, would have led on to fortune, but for Nick Greiner now is bound in shallows and miseries, for Ian Temby has said there is something rotten in the state of NSW.

At least Mr Greiner stood upon the order of his going rather than going at once, last Friday. That gave time for much reflection upon whether he had suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune in being denied his day in court, or whether things without remedy should be without regard. What’s done is done.

Nicholas Frank Greiner was certainly not born great. He was born in Budapest in Hungary on April 27, 1947. He came to Australia with his parents shortly before his fourth birthday. He achieved his Bachelor of Economics from Sydney University and then a Master of Business Administration from Harvard. And had the Premiership thrust upon him by the people of NSW on March 19, 1988.
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Former millionaire Alan Bond is using his time in jail to learn computer word-processing and to help others in jail “”to understand their full potential”.

Mr Bond revealed this is a reply to a Canberra businessman, Gil Miller, thanking him for his support.

Mr Bond said that during his visit to Royal Perth Hospital it was confirmed that he would need to have a heart valve replaced in the next 12 months.

Mr Miller, who runs the Fisher takeaway shop, wrote to Mr Bond in Woorloo jail in Western Australia. Mr Miller wrote “”as a self-employed person” giving Mr Bond his support saying, “”despite the hardship, there is something comforting about the knowledge that you are not dependant on another to hand you a pay cheque at the end of the day.”
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