Journalist who accused TV personality Don Burke of sexual harassment ordered to pay costs
A journalist has been ordered to pay TV gardening guru Don Burke’s court costs for defamation proceedings which he won after his credibility was called into question
Canberra Star
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A journalist who accused television gardener Don Burke of sexual harassment will have to pay his legal fees after losing defamation action against him.
Freelance journalist Wendy Dent launched defamation proceedings against the celebrity green thumb for comments he made in an interview with A Current Affair in which he denied allegations he’d asked her to audition topless for his popular television program Burke’s Backyard in the mid nineties.
Ms Dent claimed Mr Burke’s denials carried the imputations that she’d lied and made a false allegation of sexual harassment “motivated by her wish to join a witch-hunt” against him.
In June at ACT Supreme Court, Justice David Mossop dismissed the defamation action because he found Burke’s denial was made in a manner which “gave rise to real doubts about the credibility of his denials”.
Justice Mossop noted the interview followed the disclosure of a variety of allegations of bullying and sexual misconduct made against Mr Burke.
In defending the action, Mr Burke submitted the interviewer Tracy Grimshaw’s presentation was “sceptical and accusatory in the context of the viewer being told that there are many allegations being made by many people”.
Mr Burke argued that as the interview was conducted in this manner, an ordinary reasonable viewer would conclude that if anyone was lying, it was him and not Ms Dent.
Justice Mossop found the “the overall impression that the interview gives is one of Mr Burke being confronted with a series of allegations and providing his less than compelling response”.
“The manner in which the interviewer conducts the interview and responds to the defendant’s answers makes it very clear that the interviewer accepts the allegations made against the defendant as being credible allegations and finds his positive denial of them implausible,” Justice Mossop found.
“The irony of the defendant obtaining judgment in his favour on the basis that he has will be obvious.”
He ordered Ms Dent to pay Mr Burke’s costs of the proceedings but left the door open to either party to request a hearing on costs before the order took effect.
On Wednesday Justice Mossop handed down a decision that Ms Dent pay the costs after considering written submissions from both parties contained in court documents.
Ms Dent’s submissions were that Mr Burke “was successful but on no merits of his own” and “the court’s findings rejecting the defendant’s denial of the assault allegations means that the defendant was unsuccessful, or not to be believed on key issues”.
“Costs ordered against the plaintiff in such circumstances could bring the administration of justice into disrepute,” was her third submission.
Mr Burke’s written submissions was Ms Dent’s defamation claim had been “dismissed at the first hurdle”
“Ms Dent’s entire claim has failed and she should pay the costs of her unmeritorious proceedings,” Mr Burke submitted.
“She was not even defamed, a matter which was plain on the face of the broadcast and was drawn to her attention before she commenced the proceedings.”
Justice Mossop said the “fundamentally important point” is Mr Burke had been wholly successful in the proceedings.
“There has been no disentitling conduct in, or in relation to, the proceedings which would warrant a departure from the usual order in relation to costs,” he said.