Erin Molan’s $150,000 defamation payout has been set aside as the long-running case against Daily Mail Australia is sent back to court for a re-trial, following a judge’s error in the initial ruling.
The case involves an article by Daily Mail Australia that alleged Molan had mocked Pacific Islanders during a radio broadcast.
Molan denied the accusations, stating that she used the phrase ‘hooka look mooka hooka fooka’ during a discussion about the pronunciation of Pacific Islander names in a segment on 2GB’s Continuous Call Team program in May 2020.
In August 2021, Justice Robert Bromwich delivered a judgment largely in favour of Molan, ruling that the article had defamed her, but did not call her racist. The ruling stated that Molan was defamed in other ways, including being portrayed as ‘an arrogant woman of white privilege.’
Daily Mail Australia appealed the decision, and on Friday, three judges of the Federal Court sent the case back to Justice Bromwich to be re-tried.
Lawyers for both parties agreed that Justice Bromwich had failed to consider all the evidence initially presented in Daily Mail Australia’s defence, including other instances where Continuous Call Team members, including Molan, were alleged to have mocked nationalities.
The publisher claimed that Pacific Islander names were lampooned for their length and complexity, and other ethnic groups were crudely impersonated with exaggerated accents.
The new trial will require Justice Bromwich to determine whether Molan was defamed and whether the publisher can rely on defences, including whether it was ‘contextually’ true that Molan engaged in racist behaviour.
The judges also directed Daily Mail Australia and Molan to attempt mediation by the end of the month. Molan will not be required to give sworn testimony at the re-trial, and only the evidence presented in the original trial will be considered unless otherwise ordered by the judge.
Molan, who left the Continuous Call Team in 2020, was part of the Nine Network’s rugby league coverage until December 2021, when she quit to join Sky News Australia. She co-hosts the 2Day FM Morning Crew with Dave Hughes and Ed Kavalee and writes columns for The Daily Telegraph. She maintains that she did not intend to mock anyone and is not racist.
»Erin Molan and Daily Mail Australia’s case is sent back to court for a re-trial«
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