Since no laws guarantee freedom of expression, newspapers and television stations that take their cases to trial usually lose. To reduce the threat, Queensland Attorney general Dean Wells, a leader in the current drive to reform the libel laws, would like to put limits on punitive damages. Wells has also proposed that corrections published under legal guidelines could be a remedy that would end a defamation action. If he succeeds in reforming the libel laws, restrictions on the press will be eased considerably. The Hawke government rushed into court and got an injunction forbidding further publication from the papers.
Prior restraint protects business interests, as well.
In March of 1990 a state justice banned publication by The Melbourne Sunday Herald of an internal document of Tricontinental, a commercial subsidiary of the State Bank, containing names of persons in default of millions of dollars. The newspaper argued that since taxpayers would have to make up the losses guaranteed by the state, it was in the public's interest to publish names of the defaulters. The justice, however, said confidentiality of a business operation was an important value to be preserved, and saw no overwhelming reason why the financial dealings of corporations should be made public. But top government officials, who benefit most from the restrictions, show no interest in that sort of change.