Court victory for Mirabella

FORMER federal Liberal politician Sophie Mirabella says she feels vindicated by her $175,000 defamation win and hopes it serves as a “sober lesson” on media behaviour.

Ms Mirabella was awarded $175,000 in damages in the County Court in Melbourne yesterday after being defamed by a regional Victorian newspaper. She successfully sued the weekly newspaper The Benalla Ensign and its editor Libby Price this month, over an April 2016 article that claimed the former MP had pushed another politician out of the way during a photo opportunity.