ABC Online 5 Feb 2015

abc.net.au

The Tasmanian Government has dumped plans to change the law to allow corporations to sue for defamation in the face of public opposition and a lack of support from other states.

The Government had planned to break away from national defamation laws to give corporations with more than 10 employees the right to sue groups or individuals who made false or misleading claims about their products.

It was an election promise designed to protect the forest industry from damaging market campaigns by environmental groups.

But the move prompted a backlash from the legal sector which feared "forum shopping" where corporations from elsewhere would file suits in Tasmania.

Read the full story on the ABC website.