No I won on defamation. The part that was "settled" was how much they had to pay me. But I only agreed to accept that because they offered to pay me more than the legal maximum under Australian law. So had I not taken the offer, I risked having to cover all of their and my legal costs going forward.
The bank could not sue for defamation under Australian law. So I was only allowed to sue personally.
The article was defamatory, had I appealed I would have own. But I already won a judgment agains the Age, so there was not much to gain to win the appeal as I would not have received any more money. The article contain at least 38 false statements about the bank. But they were not about me personally.
All in all I won 7 out of 7 judgements against all five defendants. They were also ordered to pay my costs on an indemnity basis. It's rare to win that in Australian. Normally costs are paid on an ordinary basis.
The idea that I "settled" was invented by the media to minimize my total and complete victory over all five defendants. It's like I was a prize fighter and I was beating my opponent so badly that they threw in the towel. Then the loser says he didn't lose the fight, he settled.
Also I originally alleged 10 defamatory imputations. Nine denied all 10. The judge found that seven were carried by the broadcast. All I needed to prove was one was carried to win. I didn't lose on anything. However, the judge did not believe the defamatory implications were also carried by the article. My lawyer says she got that wrong, and I would have won on appeal.
Here is what my Australian lawyer wrote me regarding false media claims that my lawsuit against Nick McKenzie and Nine wasn't won, but settled.
The Federal Court of Australia entered judgment for you against McKenzie.It’s rare for a settlement to include judgment. I would say 99 out of 100 cases that settle are on a ‘without admission’ basis. Usually there is a deed with confidentiality provisions. So not only did you get judgment, meaning McKenzie and the others were liable to you for defamation, but McKenzie and the others actually conceded this. They consented to an order that you be given judgment against them. They utterly capitulated and gave you total victory.The judgment is for the whole of the proceedings, against all of the respondents. It’s not limited to the broadcast. As I mentioned in my last email, they asked for it to be limited in that way and we said no. The Court ordered that you were completely successful in the proceedings- you were defamed by McKenzie and all the others. Not only that, the Court ordered they pay you an amount that the Defamation Act says can only be awarded in ‘the most serious case’, plus a large amount for what could only have been awarded as ‘aggravated damages’, which is only awarded where the publisher’s conduct was so bad that it was ‘improper, unjustifiable or lacking in bona fides’.Not only that, they also consented to paying almost all of your costs, from a very early stage of the proceedings, on an indemnity basis. That in itself is rare and again is the absolute best case (or better) that could have been achieved had the Court decided it. But what is worse is that they agreed to all this. They admitted you should get better than the best case scenario and that this should be public and permanently on the Court record. So their attempts to portray the outcome as anything other than total victory for you is misleading (which is true to form) and pathetic.
Here is link to the federal court of Australia's website with the final judgment. it is not a settlement.
https://www.comcourts.gov.au/file/Federal/P/NSD1086/2021/3924889/event/31614647/document/2196773
Here is proof of the 38 false statements contained in the Age article.
https://9fraud.com/the-day-the-international-tax-authorities-came-knocking/
Here are all seven judgements I won.
https://9fraud.com/peter-schiff-wins-defamation-judgments/