By NOEL MURPHY
A BITTER legal fight between The Weekly Review and Geelong real estate agent Hayeswinckle has been settled out of court.
The brawl included allegations of a $200,000-plus deal for Hayeswinckle to resume advertising in the Geelong Advertiser after the agency joined 25 others in leaving the newspaper to become shareholders and advertisers in the Review, part owned by Fairfax Media.
MMP Greater Geelong, which publishes the Review, initially lodged a $1.4 million County Court writ against Hayeswinckle. The writ alleged the real estate company was contracted to spend $470,000 a year with the Review but broke the contract at the behest of News Limited, now News Corp Australia, mother company of the Advertiser.
The Review claimed Hayeswinckle was to receive $50,000 a year, hospitality and a diamond ring from the Advertiser as part of the deal.
Hayeswinckle managing director Danny Hayes argued he was being bullied in a media war and was prepared to lose money on his Review shareholding dividend to give vendors a choice on which newspaper advertised their homes.
In recent weeks, Hayeswinckle has been advertising homes for sale in both the Review and the Advertiser.
Melbourne’s County Court confirmed the stand-off was settled by consent.
When questioned about the settlement, Mr Hayes told the Independent: “I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about.”
MMP issued a statement saying: “All disputes between MMP Greater Geelong Pty Ltd, the Publisher of The Weekly Review Greater Geelong, its director Antony Catalano and Geelong real estate agents Daniel Hayes and Michelle Winckle and their agency Hayeswinckle Agent have been settled.
“The terms of the settlement are confidential, however, as part of the settlement all legal proceedings will be discontinued with denials of liability by all involved parties.
“There will be no other statements made about the disputes or the settlement.”
