9 By the end of the trial, there was no dispute about the identification of the applicant in the Group 1 and Group 2 articles. The respondents admit that the applicant has adduced evidence which establishes that at least one person read each of the articles comprising the Group 1 and Group 2 articles and, on the basis of extrinsic facts, understood those articles to refer to the applicant. The respondents do not dispute that such identification was reasonable. In addition, there is evidence adduced by the applicant of readers identifying him as being the subject of the Group 1 and Group 2 articles.
10 There is a dispute between the parties concerning some of the imputations said to be conveyed or communicated by the articles. In each case, the applicant relies on the natural and ordinary meaning of the matters complained of.
11 The applicant alleges that the following defamatory imputations of and concerning him were conveyed or communicated by the Group 1 articles:
- (1) The applicant while a member of the SASR, murdered an unarmed and defenceless Afghan civilian, by kicking him off a cliff and procuring the soldiers under his command to shoot him (Imputation 1).
- (2) The applicant broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement and is therefore a criminal (Imputation 2).
- (3) The applicant disgraced his country Australia and the Australian army by his conduct as a member of the SASR in Afghanistan (Imputation 3).
The respondents do not dispute that these imputations were conveyed or communicated by the Group 1 articles.
12 The applicant alleges that the following defamatory imputations of and concerning him were conveyed or communicated by the Group 2 articles:
- (1) The applicant while a member of the SASR, committed murder by pressuring a newly deployed and inexperienced SASR soldier to execute an elderly, unarmed Afghan in order to "blood the rookie" (Imputation 4).
- (2) The applicant while a member of the SASR, committed murder by machine gunning a man with a prosthetic leg (Imputation 5).
- (3) The applicant while a member of the SASR, murdered an unarmed and defenceless Afghan civilian, by kicking him off a cliff and procuring the soldiers under his command to shoot him (Imputation 1).
