Channel Seven Adelaide Pty Ltd v Manock

HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIAGLEESON CJ,GUMMOW, KIRBY, HAYNE AND HEYDON JJCHANNEL SEVEN ADELAIDE PTY LTD  APPELLANTANDDR COLIN MANOCK  RESPONDENTChannel Seven Adelaide Pty Ltd v Manock [2007] HCA 6013 December 2007A21/2007ORDER1.        Appeal dismissed.2.Special leave to cross-appeal be granted and the cross-appeal be treated as instituted, heard instanter and allowed.3.Set aside orders 2-5 of the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia made on 18 October 2006 and, in their place, order that paragraphs 3.1-3.39, 8.1 and 8.2 of the further amended defence be struck out.4.The appellant pay the respondent's costs of the appeal and the cross-appeal.On appeal from the Supreme Court of South AustraliaRepresentationR J Whitington QC with S J Doyle for the appellant (instructed by Kelly & Co Lawyers)G O'L Reynolds SC with N J T Swan, R W Potter and A Williamson for the respondent (instructed by Lawson Smith Lawyers)Notice:  This copy of the Court's Reasons for Judgment is subject to formal revision prior to publication in the Commonwealth Law Reports.CATCHWORDSChannel Seven Adelaide Pty Ltd v ManockDefamation – Defences – Fair comment – Promotion of a future edition of a television programme alleged to be defamatory – Defendant pleaded fair comment on a matter of public interest – Whether the allegedly defamatory statements constituted fact or comment – Distinction between fact and comment – Whether the facts on which the comments were alleged to be based were sufficiently identified – Construction of the rule from Pervan v North Queensland Newspaper Co Ltd (1993) 178 CLR 309 – Relevance...