Kerry Stokes ordered to pay Ben Roberts-Smith’s $13.5m legal costs after failed defamation suit

Seven boss handed bill by federal court after backing the disgraced former soldier in action against Nine Newspapers

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Seven West Media’s chair, Kerry Stokes, has been ordered to pay $13.5m in legal costs to companies who were unsuccessfully sued for defamation by disgraced former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith.

On Tuesday, a federal court registrar ordered that Australian Capital Equity Pty Ltd (ACE), Stokes’ private company, pay costs fixed at almost $13.3m, and a further $225,000 in relation to the costs assessment, bringing the total bill to $13.5m.