The Court applied the established practice of halving pre-judgment interest in defamation proceedings to account for the likelihood that hurt from defamatory publications diminishes over time, following Amalgamated Television Services v Marsden and John Fairfax v Kelly. Interest was calculated at 4% above the RBA cash rate in accordance with Practice Note DC (Civil) No. 15, then reduced by 50%, yielding $21,842.45 on compensatory damages of $235,000 and $7,435.73 on aggravated damages of $80,000.
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