28/09/2023, 14:44 Barilaro v Google LLC [2022] FCA 650 deficiencies in Mr Shanks’ proposed defence that required substantial amendments and ordered him to pay costs: Barilaro v Shanks-Markovina (No 2) (2021) 393 ALR 417. 8 Despite its very substantial, continuous online activity in Australia as part of its worldwide business, because it has no physical presence in this country, Mr Barilaro had to serve Google in California in the United States of America pursuant to order 1 made on 9 July 2021: Barilaro v Shanks-Markovina (No 1) [2021] FCA 789. 9 After Google entered an appearance on 10 August 2021, it filed a defence on 25 August 2021 in which it pleaded that each of the bruz video and the Secret Dictatorship video was published on an occasion of qualified privilege at common law, under the implied constitutional freedom of communication on government and political matter, or under s 30 of the Act or, in the case of the bruz video only, it was a statement by a commentator (Mr Shanks) of his honest opinion based on proper material under s 31(3) of the Act. In addition, Google pleaded a defence under the new s 29A of the Act in respect of publications, on and after 1 July 2021, that each video concerned a matter or issue of public interest, the publication of which it reasonably believed was in the public interest. 10 On 31 August 2021, I refused Mr Shanks’ application, that Google supported, that there be a trial by jury and ordered them to pay Mr Barilaro’s costs: Barilaro v Shanks-Markovina (No 3) (2021) 393 ALR 469. 11 On 28 October 2021, Mr Barilaro and Mr Shanks agreed to settle the issues in this proceeding between them. The settlement involved, among other matters, Mr Shanks taking down to edit each matter complained of so as to remove those parts that conveyed the imputations, making an apology that his senior counsel read in open Court on 5 November 2021, and paying $100,000 in respect of Mr Barilaro’s costs of his unsuccessful applications for a stay of the proceeding and a jury trial. Mr Barilaro’s background 12 Mr Barilaro was born in 1971. In the mid-1960s, his parents had migrated to Australia from Calabria, in Southern Italy. They settled in Queanbeyan. Naturally, Italian was his parents’ first language and to this day his mother’s English is not good. His father was a joinder/carpenter, who died in 2020, and had learnt to speak English to be part of the local workforce. Mr Barilaro’s father worked for a Queanbeyan joinery business for two or three years after arriving in Australia and then started his own business with two partners called Little Joinery that became very successful. Later, his father founded his own company, Ryleho Mouldings and Timber, with a different partner. His father invented, and won a design award, for a pre-hung door system to facilitate fitting doors in a residential home. Mr Barilaro’s mother looked after their four children at home and worked for a company assembling flyscreens. Later she worked as a cleaner at Queanbeyan High School, before and after school hours. Mr Barilaro went to that school until his final two years which he spent at St Edmund’s College in Canberra. He began studying accounting at the University of Canberra but did not enjoy that, despite his parents’ ambitions for him to have a tertiary education. He persuaded his father to let him take a gap year working in the family business. Mr Barilaro said that he started at the bottom and his father worked him very hard, but he loved everything about the work. 13 Mr Barilaro married Deanna and they have three daughters aged 25, 21 and 6 at the time of the trial. His children went (and the youngest daughter still goes) to school in Queanbeyan. Mr Barilaro’s father was an active member of the Queanbeyan community, President of the Multilingual Centre, a board member of the Queanbeyan District Hospital and the Marco Polo Club. Mr Barilaro was inspired by his father’s example. 14 After his father retired in about 1997, Mr Barilaro and his wife bought out the other partner and he became managing director of Ryleho. Mr Barilaro changed the product line to focus on innovative building products including energy efficient windows and doors. He was proud of the success the business achieved. 15 Mr Barilaro said that he followed in his father’s footsteps. He started the Monaro Panthers Soccer Club, involved himself in coaching young persons and sponsored many community groups. He spent a lot of time volunteering to assist in running the Monaro Panthers, in coaching, and he was on the executive in several capacities including as its President. It grew to having about 900 junior players, and about 200 senior ones. There were not enough grounds in Queanbeyan to accommodate the Monaro Panthers’s needs so the Queanbeyan City Council told the club to take the young players to Canberra to train. Mr Barilaro decided to https://www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2022/2022fca0650 8/101