Former Labor leader turned right-wing internet commentator Mark Latham has settled the defamation case brought against him by ABC employee Osman Faruqi, 13 months after it was first filed.
Faruqi, a former Greens candidate and editor at Junkee, sued Latham in the Australian Federal Court over a video published in August 2017 on the Mark Latham's Outsiders website and elsewhere, in which Latham named Faruqi as he made comments about Islamic terrorism and "anti-white racism".
Faruqi claimed Latham defamed him by suggesting he assists terrorist fanatics who want to kill Australians, that he condones murders committed by Islamic terrorists and that he encourages and facilitates terrorism.
The case had been set down for hearing in April 2019 – but on Monday afternoon, Faruqi's law firm Maurice Blackburn released a statement saying the case had settled and the lawsuit would be dismissed.
Latham will pay damages and legal costs to Faruqi, the statement said, which according to Maurice Blackburn could amount to more than $100,000. The legal costs will be determined by the court at a later date.
Latham's solicitor Tean Kerr from the firm Lander & Rogers told BuzzFeed News Latham was "relieved" at the "good common sense" in resolving the proceedings.
"The parties reached a commercial resolution that resolved the proceedings without admissions by either party," he said. "Defamation proceedings are inherently cost ineffective and the cost of litigating these proceedings would have far outweighed any benefit to the parties in doing so."
Maurice Blackburn also said Latham had agreed to take down the "offensive statements" he had made about Faruqi. Kerr declined to comment on the details of the settlement.
BuzzFeed News understands the settlement was reached in the last few days.
Faruqi said it was "unfortunate" the case had proceeded this far, but the result was what he had hoped for.
"This case has always been about reaffirming the principle that all Australians should be able to participate in public debate without being denigrated and accused of supporting heinous crimes like terrorism because of their background," he said.
"I hope that this settlement sends a message to other members of the community that while robust debate is part of a healthy democracy, using your platform to harm the reputation of individuals comes at a cost."
He said he hoped that the settlement would encourage Australians from diverse backgrounds to participate in democratic debate.
Latham wrote on Twitter that the result was "basically a win for lawyers, as lawfare always tends to be".
I would like to thank the many people who last year assisted with Rebel Media crowd funding for Faruqi defamation case. Due to Federal Court ruling a few months ago, it's basically a win for lawyers, as lawfare always tends to be. Many thanks to the donors who supported my case.
The statement from Maurice Blackburn said that legal costs would be "significant" given the "extraordinarily lengthy and unusual first defence" filed by Latham in the case.
That first defence was struck out in its entirety in dramatic fashion earlier this year by Federal Court justice Michael Wigney, who said it was an "extraordinary document" and said it would be easier for Latham to "start from scratch".
The defence included 164 of Faruqi's tweets and mentioned the Lindt Cafe siege in Sydney, bombings in Paris and Brussels, and historical instances of Christian martyrdom, among other things.
The strikeout judgement was shared widely on social media. In one section, Wigney analysed a number of Faruqi's tweets, disagreeing with Latham that they indicated anti-white vilification.
"For example, on 20 July 2016, Mr Faruqi tweeted 'Labradors are to dogs what straight white dudes are to politics. Boring, too common, entitled'," Wigney wrote.
"This tweet may well have been offensive to owners of Labradors, or perhaps even Labradors themselves. Some readers may well have considered that it was a fairly crude and simplistic way for Mr Faruqi to make his point. Others may have been simply amused. Either way, it hardly constitutes vilification."
After the defence was struck out, Latham hired new lawyers, replacing Londy Lawyers – the Brisbane-based firm that filed the defence – with the larger Lander & Rogers. He also switched barristers from Anthony Morris QC to Peter Gray SC and Clarissa Amato.
A second defence filed in October by this new legal team comprised of just three pages.
Maurice Blackburn lawyer Josh Bornstein, who acted for Faruqi, said Latham's comments had been "highly damaging" to Faruqi and resulted in more people directing "threatening behaviour and racial and religious bigotry" towards him.
"Mr Faruqi has always supported free speech and robust debate, but as we have reiterated throughout this case Mr Latham’s comments about him in this instance crossed a clear and unacceptable line."
Earlier this month, Latham, a one time prime ministerial candidate, announced he had joined One Nation and would head its New South Wales Legislative Council ticket at the 2019 state election.