In South Australia, a defence of fair comment must address the imputation pleaded by the plaintiff. A defendant may address any substantially similar or lesser meaning on which the plaintiff may be permitted to rely at trial, but the substance of the comment cannot have a substantially different or more serious meaning than the imputation alleged. The substratum of facts relied upon must be capable of supporting the comment substantially in the sense pleaded by the plaintiff; if not, the particulars will be struck out.
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