Developer Johnson Lin loses defamation case over brothel link with ex-mayor Pisasale

A Queensland property developer who claimed a news article falsely portrayed him as procuring prostitution services for a disgraced mayor has lost his defamation case and now faces a hefty legal bill.

A Gold Coast brothel was mentioned in the court documents.

A Queensland property developer who claimed a news article falsely portrayed him as procuring prostitution services for a disgraced mayor has lost his defamation case and now faces a hefty legal bill.

Johnson Lin sued Fairfax Digital Australia & New Zealand Pty Ltd over a 2017 article in The Brisbane Times, alleging it implied he had arranged sexual services for former Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale in exchange for favourable treatment on a housing development.

Mr Lin, whose family company Cherish Enterprises owned 250ha of land in Springfield in Ipswich, denied any wrongdoing, saying he merely directed Mr Pisasale to a brothel at Molendinar at the former mayor’s own request and was not involved in any illegal or unethical activity.

But a jury in November 2024 unanimously rejected all five defamatory imputations Mr Lin claimed the article conveyed.

With that finding, Mr Lin’s case crumbled — and in February, the District Court of Queensland ruled that he must pay Fairfax’s legal costs, including indemnity costs from October 2022 onwards.

The outcome followed the court’s view that Mr Lin unreasonably rejected fair settlement offers during the litigation.

Judge Michael Burnett found Fairfax had made six formal offers to settle between 2019 and 2024, including proposals to amend the article and discontinue the proceedings with each side bearing their own costs.

A critical fifth offer, made in October 2022, offered no monetary compensation but would have ended the litigation entirely.

The judge deemed this offer reasonable, especially considering flaws in Mr Lin’s case.

Court documents showed Mr Lin rejected or ignored the offer despite receiving legal advice and having ample time to consider it, a decision the court ruled was “unreasonable in all the circumstances”.

The judge awarded indemnity costs under the Defamation Act 2005 (Qld), which allows courts to impose higher cost penalties when plaintiffs reject reasonable settlement offers.

The court also considered common law principles, which support cost awards where a party behaves unreasonably in the face of good-faith negotiations.

The rejection of the fifth offer and a subsequent token offer of $5000 in February 2024, played a key role in the court’s decision to impose indemnity costs.

Mr Lin’s legal result followed more than six years of litigation, including delays, a failed strikeout application, and eventual jury trial.

The costs now payable to Fairfax are expected to be substantial, particularly given the case’s complexity and duration.

Originally published as Developer Johnson Lin loses defamation case over brothel link with ex-mayor Pisasale