On a strike-out application in defamation, the test is simply whether the published words are capable of bearing the pleaded imputations to an ordinary reasonable reader. If the words are incapable of bearing the imputation, the pleading necessarily discloses no reasonable cause of action and should be struck out; there is no additional General Steel hurdle requiring the defendant to show the claim is 'so obviously untenable that it cannot possibly succeed'. The approach in Monte v Mirror Newspapers Ltd requiring something more than incapacity is disapproved in Queensland.
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