We can believe that ‘sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me’ until the ends of the earth, but let’s face it: mean words and unfounded claims can suck pretty hard.
At least, so says Joe Hockey, who decided a court case was in order after Fairfax Media wrote a story about him called ‘Treasurer For Sale’. The article spoke of the Treasurer allegedly accepting bribes and selling privileged access to certain Liberal Party donors. Hockey says that it was very damaging to his reputation, and it was just part of a ‘relentless attack’ that left him ‘absolutely devastated’.
The verdict was announced this afternoon; Hockey won the case, and has been awarded $200,000 in damages. The claims against the article itself were dismissed, but Justice Richard White awarded Hockey $120,000 for the poster featured at the top of the article, and $80,000 for two tweets posted by The Age.
Maybe now Hocks understands not to say mean, unfounded things, like that time he said that poor people don’t have cars, or that people who want to buy houses need to ‘get a good job that pays good money’. Thinking before we speak is key, everyone.
via The Guardian/SBS
Image: James Alcock via Getty Images
