In a significant development Cameron Slater has brought his application for an injunction and for return of his personal information from various media outlets to and end and has opened himself up to a potentially significant order of costs against him.
From Radio New Zealand:
Mr Slater’s lawyer John Billington QC told the High Court in Auckland he would not be continuing with the legal action launched following the release of investigative journalist Nicky Hager’s book Dirty Politics.
The move means the undertaking by the media not to publish Mr Slater’s emails containing personal information is no longer in force.
According to the agreement previously read out in court, that included information about Mr Slater’s “wife and children, his medical records, the death of his mother and information of a similar nature.”
And Mr Slater could also be in line for a large legal bill. Representing the publisher of the New Zealand Herald, Julian Miles QC, told Justice Peters the media would be seeking costs.
Now that the election is finished I guess all the loose ends have to be tidied up. But I still wonder who funded Slater’s representation. And what happened to the information that the media received from Rawshark but which has not appeared in any further articles.
The media response to this latest development is interesting. The story was covered by Radio New Zealand and referred to by Radiolive in this short headline. But I have not been able to find any mention of it on the websites of TV3, Stuff or the Herald.
I know there is this idea amongst some within the MSM that since National won and the election is over dirty politics is all old news. But the whole episode disclosed a previously secret organised system of behaviour which should not be tolerated in a democracy. If we are to have a properly functioning democracy then these stories need to be investigated and reported.
Powered by WPtouch Mobile Suite for WordPress