Election posters in the NSW town of Orange which compare NSW premier Mike Baird and deputy Troy Grant to Adolf Hitler and Korean dictator Kim Jong-un could be cause for a defamation case, says PIAA general manager of legal services Charles Watson.
The corflute signage is currently on display outside a McLachlan Street home in the lead up to the town’s byelection, and has caused outrage amongst the community.
Watson says if a defamation case was to be pursued, it is up to the court to decide if the printer involved would take any responsibility.
“There is certainly a point to make here about whether the sign is defamatory. Does Mike Baird feel defamed by this? You would have to ask him, but it would certainly raise questions of defamation,” he says.
“The printer is not necessarily responsible, but a court has to decide. That is the difficulty with defamation, some people think they are being defamed when really it is only offensive and has not damaged their reputation in any way.”
According to the NSW electoral act all election posters must show the name and address of the person who authorised the printing, the name of the printer and the address at which it was printed.
The sign itself does not include any of that information, Watson says the legality of this depends upon whether it was authorised by a political party or an individual.
“If it is not political party campaign material authorised by someone within the party then the electoral act need not necessarily apply to an individual who is attempting freedom of speech,” Watson explains.
There are only two print shops in Orange and both say they were not involved with the job.
General manager of Orange’s Printflow, Dan O’Donoghue believes the work was likely printed by an online trade printer.
“I do not know anyone in the town that would be silly enough to do this,” he tells Australian Printer.
“I just assess each job as they come in and 99 per cent are standard jobs, but if it starts to get controversial I just think it is not worth involving yourself in it.”
Watson says printers who are unsure about whether to accept a controversial print job should use their own judgement or alternatively contact the PIAA legal services team for advice.
“It is a decision the printer needs to make when they are printing anything, if they are not comfortable with the job then they have the right to refuse,” Watson says.
“I would think the average person would have questions about printing anything with Adolf Hitler on it, but other people may be comfortable with it, it is a decision the printer needs to make.
Watson adds, “I would have to say this particular case is of very poor taste, but that would be a personal view.”
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