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Porter, ABC may enter into mediation to settle defamation dispute
Former attorney-general Christian Porter and the ABC have agreed to enter into a mediation in order to settle his defamation case over an article that he claimed had identified him as the cabinet minister at the centre of historic rape allegations.
Naomi Neilson
The Federal Court made an order to allow copies of the ABC’s unredacted defence and Christian Porter’s reply to be shifted to any mediator with a connection to the proceedings.
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Mr Porter is pursuing damages over an article that he alleged identified him as the cabinet minister, despite never naming him. He has named both the ABC and journalist Louise Milligan in the case.
It comes after Justice Michael Thawley told the court he would retire before delivering his judgement on whether Mr Porter’s leading defamation barrister Sue Chrysanthou could continue to represent the cabinet minister. This decision is expected to be handed down on Thursday afternoon.
The friend of the woman who accused Mr Porter of rape 33 years ago – which he has strenuously denied – Jo Dyer, received advice from Ms Chrysanthou in November last year over an article published in The Australian. She said that Ms Chrysanthou had access to confidential information relevant to Mr Porter.
Lawyers for Ms Chrysanthou and Mr Porter submitted that although the barrister had a lawyer-client relationship with Ms Dyer, which ended six days before accepting Mr Porter’s brief, she was not in possession of any confidential knowledge that could be used to Mr Porter’s advantage during his defamation proceedings.
Details in Ms Chrysanthou’s proceeding revealed that Ms Milligan had suggested Ms Dyer delete text messages from her phone exchanged over an encrypted messaging app. This could cause some damage to the ABC’s defence of qualified privilege.
More to come.
