MEDIA RELEASE 17 August 1999 8 media organisations 3 environmental groups 3 academics 2 Political Parties A former Federal Minister A former Senator 8 other individuals AND NOW SA's Transport Minister, Diana Laidlaw Who's Next? The Kumarangk Legal Defence Fund (KLDF) was today wondering who would be next as it learned that South Australia's Transport Minister, The Hon Diana Laidlaw is among the latest to be sued by Hindmarsh Island developers Tom and Wendy Chapman. The KLDF Inc was set up last year to assist the growing number of individuals and community organisations being sued for defamation over the controversial bridge to Hindmarsh Island. The Laidlaw case is the 6th defamation case against an individual or community group. Another recent case against John Fairfax P/L (Financial Review) makes it 8 cases against mainstream media organisations. The Chapmans also have a major legal case against Anthropologist Dr Deane Fergie, Luminus P/L, Robert Tickner, Prof Cheryl Saunders and the Commonwealth government over the bridge issue. Spokesperson for the KLDF, Mr Tom Glynn, said "For legal reasons we can not say what Ms Laidlaw said, but we were interested that it took 5 years and 361 days for the Chapmans to bring an action over something said in 1993. (The Statute of Limitiation for defamation is 6 years). At that rate, we may not see an end to these defamation cases for another ten years." "With all this litigation, ordinary people wanting to express a view on a very public issue just don't know what they are allowed to say anymore. Many people have felt silenced by the complexity of the legal situation where, even if you win, you might be in court for 3 years and out of pocket by tens of thousands of dollars." The KLDF has itself been told by the Chapmans' lawyer that it will be sued over the its website <http://www.green.net.au/hindmarsh> which talks about the litigation and the KLDF's concern about the impact of the cases on public debate. === ----------------------------------------- The Kumarangk Legal Defence Fund Inc. PO Box 3168, Rundle Mall SA 5000, AUSTRALIA http://www.green.net.au/hindmarsh -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
