Logging Company Ordered to Pay SLAPP Costs

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The Tasmanian logging company Gunns has been ordered to pay the legal costs of 17 environmentalists and 3 environmental groups, after the third version of its $A6.9 million ($US5.2m) damages claim was thrown out of court. The legal costs are estimated at more than $A1 million ($US760,000). Since December 2004, Gunns has filed three statements of claim and sacked two legal teams. Victorian Supreme Court Justice Bernard Bongiorno gave the company until November 2 to file a fourth claim. Gunns' legal actions have sparked calls for an overhaul of Australian laws to ensure that corporations cannot initiate legal actions aimed at stifling community participation in public policy debates, or SLAPPs. Earlier in the week, Gunns informed the court that it had dropped one part of its claim in which it sought $A500,000 ($US378,000) in damages, alleging a co-ordinated campaign involving all defendants.