Don Burke: TV gardener fends off appeal in defamation case
Disgraced former TV gardener Don Burke has cemented his ‘ironic’ defence of a defamation case stemming from allegations of sordid sexual misconduct.
Canberra Star
Don't miss out on the headlines from Canberra Star. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Top diplomat denies masturbating in bushes of Canberra home
- Canberra bikie boss caught fibbing about leaving gang
- Andrew Constance to seek preselection for Eden-Monaro
Disgraced TV gardening guru Don Burke has cemented his successful, but “ironic” defence of a defamation case brought against him dating back to an expose of his alleged history of sexual misconduct.
The ACT Court of appeal on Tuesday refused an appeal brought by journalist Wendy Dent, who had previously lost a defamation case against the celebrity gardener.
Dent was one of a string of women who accused Burke of sexual misconduct, saying the once-popular TV gardener told her she had to go topless in an audition to work on his show.
In a subsequent interview on A Current Affair, Burke denied the claims, denials which Dent argued defamed her by portraying her as a “liar” and as being part of a “witch hunt”.
Burke adopted what the Supreme Court branded an “ironic” defence, arguing an ordinary and reasonable viewer would not have believed his denials and would have been left questioning his, not Dent’s credibility.
Last year, the ACT Supreme Court rejected rejected Dent’s claim, saying Burke’s denial was “less than compelling” and that an ordinary, reasonable viewer would likely not have believed him.
On appeal, Dent’s legal team unsuccessfully argued that Burke’s attempt to discredit Dent must have diminished the public’s view of her.
“There’s an old saying, you throw enough mud and some will stick,” Dent’s barrister Greg Stretton SC said.
“You’re looking at (viewers) who have known the show Burke’s Backyard for 14 years and would no doubt know (Burke) to be a credible person.”
The three ACT Court of Appeal judges found that viewers “would likely watch the interview … with a mind alert to whether the ‘litany of allegations’ against Mr Burke were well founded”.
The judges said Burke was “evasive … and at times contradictory” in his answers, and that viewers “would have understood Mr Burke to have avoided answering the question put to him” about allegations of sexual misconduct.
The judges also found “the ordinary reasonable viewer would be highly sceptical of Mr Burke’s assertion that all of the accusers (including Ms Dent) had conspired in a witch-hunt against him”.
Viewers would have “placed great weight” on interviewer Tracey Grimshaw’s “non-verbal expressions of incredulity and disbelief” when Burke denied the allegations against him.
Viewers watching the interview, the judges found, would have been left with an impression that Burke failed “to address the allegations against him in a clear or credible way” and would not have been left thinking Dent was a liar or part of a “witch hunt”.
Dent was ordered to pay Burke’s costs.