Lawyers for Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey say Fairfax Media should pay the legal costs of running his defamation case against the publisher.

The Treasurer is also seeking a permanent injunction, preventing Fairfax repeating the imputation that he is corrupt.

Mr Hockey was awarded $200,000 in damages after the Federal Court found that a poster headline and tweets reading "Treasurer for sale" were defamatory.

All other claims made by Mr Hockey over the content of the articles were dismissed.

Justice Richard White found Sydney Morning Herald editor Darren Goodsir sought a headline that would be hurtful or damaging, to get back at Mr Hockey for being forced to correct and apologise for a previous article about the Treasurer.

Mr Hockey's barrister Bruce McClintock SC today told the Federal Court there was no evidence Mr Goodsir's animus towards the Treasurer had gone away.

"That makes the injunction both necessary and desirable," Mr McClintock said.

He told the court, it was unreasonable for Fairfax not to publish an apology, as Mr Hockey had requested.

But Fairfax's barrister Sandy Dawson said the publisher was right to stick to its guns.

"These were articles that dealt with matters of considerable public interest," he said.

The reports, published in newspapers including The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age and online on May 5, 2014, related to Mr Hockey's involvement with Liberal Party fundraising group North Sydney Forum (NSF).

In March, Mr Hockey told the court he viewed the report as defamatory because it suggested his influence could be bought by members of the NSF, who pay up to $22,000 a year for access to events attended by Mr Hockey and others.

The Treasurer said his office received no money from the NSF.

Mr Dawson said an order to pay all of Mr Hockey's costs, considering many of his claims were unsuccessful, would be a "manifestly unfair result".

He also argued against an injunction being imposed, saying it would be "an incredible restriction ... on freedom of the press."

The court heard two defamatory tweets by The Age had already been taken down, while another two that were not sued upon, will be removed by 12:00pm on Thursday.