Treasurer Joe Hockey is expected to face his own legal budget blow-out of hundreds of thousands of dollars after being ordered to pay 85 percent of his costs in his defamation case against Fairfax.

Mr Hockey was awarded $200,000 last month after the Federal Court found Fairfax defamed him when it splashed the words "Treasurer for Sale" across a Sydney Morning Herald promotional poster and published two similarly worded tweets from The Age.

But the court dismissed the rest of Mr Hockey's claims that the articles defamed him.

On Wednesday, Justice Richard White delivered Mr Hockey a blow when his costs order fell well short of the 95 percent he was chasing.

Instead, the publisher will pay only 15 percent of the treasurer's costs.

The combined total bill exceeds $1 million, Fairfax reported, leaving Mr Hockey with a substantial share to pay.

But Mr Hockey says he has no regrets in taking the action, despite its "considerable" cost.

Sydney Morning Herald editor in chief Darren Goodsir (left) and Mr Hockey at court during the proceedings. (AAP)

He said he took the action to "stand up to malicious people intent on vilifying Australians who choose to serve in public office to make their country a better place".

"Whilst the cost of this action has been considerable for me, my family and friends, it has been far greater for Fairfax Media," he said in a statement.

"They are clearly not 'Independent. Always'."

The comments come after Fairfax's barrister Sandy Dawson told the Federal Court earlier this month the case "was an unmitigated disaster for Mr Hockey and a costs order should reflect that".

Rather than them footing any of the bill, he argued the treasurer should be forced to cover 60 percent of the publisher's legal costs.

Justice White, however found that any costs order should reflect the reality that Mr Hockey did succeed on some matters but failed on others.

Mr Hockey was not victorious in his claim against The Canberra Times nor was he successful in the matters which were at the "real core" of his claim against The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, Justice White said.

Treasurer Joe Hockey.

Had he just sued the publisher over the poster and the two tweets for which he was ordered damages, rather than the articles as well, the matter may not have gone to trial at all, Justice White said.

He also dismissed the politician's claims that Fairfax had been unreasonable in not settling the matter before it went to trial.

Mr Hockey was awarded damages of $120,000 for the poster and $80,000 for two similarly worded tweets published in May last year.

But his claim over the content of the articles was dismissed.

The articles said Mr Hockey gave access to a select group in return for donations to the Liberal Party via the North Sydney Forum, a fundraising organisation whose activities were not fully disclosed to election funding authorities.

Fairfax supported the judgment.

"The costs judgment is a fair reflection of the outcome of the proceedings where Mr Hockey failed on all of the matters which were the real core of his claim," a Fairfax Media spokesperson said.