In Western Australian defamation proceedings, a defendant may plead and justify an imputation of reasonable grounds to suspect guilt as a Polly Peck defence where the plaintiff has pleaded imputations of guilt, because such an imputation is not substantially different from the plaintiff's pleaded imputations. A plaintiff cannot defeat such a defence by expressly disclaiming reliance on the lesser imputation. There is a difference between 'reasonable grounds to believe' and 'reasonable grounds to suspect', with the former being closer to guilt, but both are competent Polly Peck pleas.
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