An article that defamed former federal MP Sophie Mirabella while she was campaigning for her old seat during the 2016 federal election is ultimately costing a weekly Victorian newspaper almost $300,000.

Victoria county court judge Michael Macnamara last week awarded Mirabella all her legal fees for her defamation lawsuit against weekly newspaper the Benalla Ensign, on top of $175,000 in damages she was awarded.

Her legal costs amount to $118,600, according to an order released on Tuesday detailing how much money the former Indi member spent on legal counsel for the preparation and duration of her six-day trial in Wangaratta.

The order also says Benalla Newspapers and former editor Libby Price must pay 3% interest on the $175,000 awarded to Mirabella to cover the time between when she launched the lawsuit and its final resolution. This means Mirabella will receive $180,758 in damages, plus $118,600 in legal costs.

The 49-year-old sued the newspaper and Price after it published an article, titled Awkward Encounter, that claimed she had pushed rival politician Cathy McGowan during a photo opportunity.

The article was published on 20 April 2016 before the 2 July election in which Mirabella hoped to win back the seat of Indi from McGowan.

Last Thursday, the county court in Melbourne was told the Ensign and Price had made an early offer of just $5,364 to settle the case, but how they came to that figure was never explained to Mirabella.

Mirabella’s legal team then tried to settle for $150,000 plus legal fees, but the newspaper and Price never responded to the offer.



In awarding indemnity costs, Judge Macnamara rejected the offer of “$5,000-odd” was reasonable.

Earlier in May, the judge awarded Mirabella $175,000 in damages after a six-person jury in Wangaratta found she had been defamed by the article.

Judge Macnamara found Mirabella was wrongly portrayed as carrying out the push and suffered damage to her reputation.

