Conspiracy theorist ordered to pay $875,000 over 'delusional' posts targeting Australian MP
A conspiracy theorist who accused a Nationals MP of being “a member of a secretive paedophile network” on social media has been ordered to pay $875,000 in damages, after a federal court judge labelled the claims “disgraceful and inexplicable”.
Guardian Australia revealed last month that Anne Webster, a first-term federal MP from Mildura, had, along with her husband and a not-for-profit organisation they established to help single mothers, launched defamation proceedings against Australian conspiracy theorist Karen Brewer over a series of posts made on Facebook in April this year.
The posts, which were shared hundreds of times, including on accounts associated with Mildura, accused the MP of being “a member of a secretive paedophile network” who had been “parachuted into parliament to protect a past generation of paedophiles”.
In a judgement on Tuesday, justice Jacqueline Gleeson ordered Brewer, who had her Facebook account deleted after Guardian Australia revealed the case, to pay a total of $875,000 over the posts, saying there was no “sensible basis” for the “wholly indefensible” allegations. Gleeson said the allegations levelled by Brewer, who is based in New Zealand, were “not reasoned or plausible” and carried less weight than publications in the mainstream media. But despite believing most rational people would find Brewer’s “rants” to be “delusional”, they were sufficiently “vile” to warrant a substantial payout.
“While I consider that rational people would regard Ms Brewer’s publications as delusional, I accept that some people may find them persuasive,” Gleeson wrote.
“The applicants are entitled to substantial awards of damage to ‘nail the lie’ – that is, to demonstrate the baselessness of Ms Brewer’s charges and to vindicate the good name of each of the applicants.”
The MP installed security cameras at her home because she feared being physically attacked as a result of the posts. The judge awarded Webster $350,000, her husband Dr Phillip Webster $225,000 and Zoe Support $300,000, including compensatory and aggravated damages, plus legal costs.
Brewer has played no part in the proceedings and has previously mocked justice Gleeson in videos posted to social media during the case.
After the judgement, Webster told the ABC she wanted to explore changes to legislation forcing publishers such as Facebook to be more accountable for material published online.
“It’s not an unknown world – but it is a bit of a scary world – where people can share whatever they like and it’s only by going through legal cases that things can change,” she said.
“I wasn’t so aware of the whole conspiracy theory at the time. For me, it was an issue of justice and it was to make a stand.”