Legal papers, 1979-2001

Component identifier:

Series 6

Content Summary:

In 1967 O'Shaughnessy produced and performed in Othello at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Katharine Brisbane reviewed the production for The Australian newspaper and O'Shaughnessy subsequently sued Mirror Newspapers for defamation. Although the suit was initially unsuccessful a retrial was ordered by the High Court in 1970 and the matter was eventually settled out of court. This series includes several pages of summary notes concerning the case. O'Shaughnessy discusses the matter further in his unpublished memoirs 'How I beat Rupert Murdoch and how I brought down the Whitlam Government with some other yarns' a draft of which may be found in Series 4.

O'Shaughnessy considered a second libel suit against Mirror Newspapers in 1996 following an article by Barry Oakley in The Australian Magazine. O'Shaughnessy had sent a draft of his memoirs to Oakley for advice regarding potential publication. There is correspondence with Des Fennessy Brian Gallagher Stuart Littlemore and Barry Oakley regarding the matter.

The series also features correspondence statements transcript summaries and notes relating to other legal matters such as traffic offences divorce and dealings with the British Department of Social Services.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Drafts of The restless years (1968) were donated to the National Library in 1969. Extracts from a transcript of a 1986 interview with O'Shaughnessy were added to the collection in 1986. The bulk of the collection was purchased from O'Shaughnessy in five instalments between November 2000 and May 2001, with a further donation of material in June 2001.

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