Andrew Bolt and the facts.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)

SIR." In his review (March 2006) of Andrew Bolt's recently published collection of his newspaper columns, Still Not Sorry, Max Teichmann refers to Mr Bolt's commitment to "the facts" as a stand-out attribute which helps account for Mr Bolt's "enormous following".

Quadrant readers might be interested to learn that in December 2000, Mr Bolt had a lapse. In his Herald Sun column, Mr Bolt attacked a deputy chief magistrate in Victoria and called for her removal from office. He distorted the facts by giving his readers only a portion of a transcript of a court proceeding presided over by the magistrate. The newspaper and Mr Bolt stood their ground. The magistrate was forced to sue. In the witness box, Mr Bolt again refused to retract and apologise and gave evidence that he did not believe the magistrate's sworn evidence, thereby accusing her of lying on oath.

The magistrate won and the Victorian Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed the defendants' appeal. Acting Justice of Appeal Gillard (with whose reasons the other two judges agreed) made the following remarks:

 
   But when the whole exchange is 
   revealed, the context shows, 
   beyond doubt in my opinion, 
   that there is ...