Nine Entertainment settles defamation case with former Victorian Liberal party powerbroker Marcus Bastiaan

The Age and 60 Minutes have deleted dozens of articles relating to alleged branch-stacking by a former Victorian Liberal party powerbroker after he launched defamation action.

The Age investigative reporter Nick McKenzie reporting on alleged branch stacking within the Victorian Liberal party on Nine's 60 Minutes program on August 23, 2020.

Nine Entertainment has settled a defamation lawsuit with former Victorian Liberal Party powerbroker and vice-president Marcus Bastiaan, which included a payout worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and the removal of dozens of articles and social media posts.

Mr Bastiaan launched legal proceedings against Nine Entertainment (the owner of the Nine Network, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald) following a 60 Minutes expose led by reporter Nick McKenzie that aired on the prime-time program on August 23, 2020.

It claimed Mr Bastiaan was involved in Liberal Party branch-stacking in Victoria – which he vehemently denied – and he later launched legal action in the Federal Court.

Court documents submitted during the proceedings stated that Nine falsely claimed Mr Bastiaan was a “corrupt branch-stacking co-ordinator” who “blatantly abused the rules of office” and had “committed criminal offences in his corrupt activities”.

The ongoing court proceedings eventually led to mediation being held between the parties. Nearly 18 months on, Nine agreed last week to remove up to 30 pieces of content from its websites relating to the branch-stacking allegations.

It is understood that Mr Bastiaan’s lawyers only requested that several articles be removed from Nine’s online channels, but the media company also removed many more pieces of content in a move that one legal expert said “was highly unusual”.

The articles subsequently deleted were published on the websites of 60 Minutes, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald and also their social media channels, including Facebook.

McKenzie’s report claimed Mr Bastiaan was involved in Liberal Party branch-stacking in Victoria – which he vehemently denied.

Nine has also agreed to pay an undisclosed sum understood to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to Mr Bastiaan, which includes funds to cover some of his legal costs.

Mr Bastiaan said he was “satisfied” with the legal action.

“The settlement is vindication for those who believe the Liberal Party must change,” he said.

His lawyer, Stuart Gibson, a principal lawyer at Macpherson Kelley, said his client was “extremely pleased with the outcome of the settlement”.

“Prior to pursuing legal action, Mr Bastiaan had been cleared of any wrongdoing by both the Liberal Party and by an independent investigation undertaken by KordaMentha,” he said.

“The published clarification in The Age on 19 January, further confirms that Mr Bastiaan was wrongly defamed by The Age, 60 Minutes and The Sydney Morning Herald.”

During the proceedings, an interlocutory injunction was granted. This prevents parties from taking part in certain acts before court proceedings are completed.

Judge Steven Rares restrained Mr McKenzie from communicating with 23 people connected to the case, including respondents, their officers and agents, however, it did exclude lawyers.

Just last week Nine published a “clarification” in its print and online editions of The Age that said Mr Bastiaan was not involved in any criminal actions.

“In August 2020, 60 Minutes, The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald published a series of reports about Marcus Bastiaan described as a ‘joint investigation’,” the statement read.

“Bastiaan alleged that the reports included serious allegations of criminality by him.

“Nine did not intend to suggest any criminality on the part of Bastiaan. If any reader/viewer understood the report in that way, Nine clarifies that it does not suggest that this is the case.”

The 60 Minutes expose, dubbed Party Games, has since been deleted from the Nine’s online channels and social media accounts including Facebook.

Other articles detailing allegations against Mr Bastiaan have also been removed from Nine’s websites.

A Nine spokesman said: “Nine is very happy with the settlement of the matter. While the settlement precludes discussing its terms, the reporting led to reforms within the Liberal Party and scrutiny of matters of public interest.

“There was no finding that any person had been defamed.”

Consultants KordaMentha reviewed the party’s alleged branch stacking and rorting of taxpayer funds following Nine’s reports, and at the end of 2020 recommended changes to party processes including membership applications.

Following the release of the report, Mr Bastiaan said: “It found no evidence that I or the membership and training committee breached the Liberal Party’s constitution.

“I am pleased but not surprised to be cleared of all branch stacking allegations.”