Catchwords:

APPEAL AND NEW TRIAL – test for determining whether primary judge erred in finding ordinary reasonable reader would understand defamatory publication conveyed imputation – whether appellant must demonstrate error in finding of fact or error in exercise of discretionary judgment – whether obiter dicta in Gatto v Australian Broadcasting Corporation [2022] VSCA 66 correct – Held: test is whether error of fact established

DEFAMATION – where matter complained of was tweet – whether ordinary reasonable reader would understand tweet read as a whole and in way users of Twitter read tweets conveyed imputation – where primary judge used dictionaries to interpret imputations and matter complained of – Held: appeal allowed