A judge has temporarily adjourned former attorney-general Christian Porter’s defamation lawsuit against the ABC over its coverage of historic rape allegations pending the outcome of a separate legal challenge over whether barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC can represent him in the case.
The woman bringing court action seeking to stop Christian Porter’s senior barrister from acting for the former attorney-general in his defamation case against the ABC has attacked suggestions that she strategically delayed bringing the conflict of interest challenge.
Senior barrister Sue Chrysanthou is reportedly facing court action to prevent her from continuing to act for Christian Porter in the former attorney-general’s defamation case against the ABC.
The ABC has come out swinging in its defence to former attorney-general Christian Porter’s lawsuit over an allegedly defamatory article concerning historical rape allegations, saying there were reasonable grounds for suspecting Porter brutally raped a girl when they were teenagers and that it had a duty to publish the article.
Facing a defamation suit by former attorney-general Christian Porter over an article centring on historical rape allegations, the ABC has said it will argue the substantial truth of many of the alleged defamatory imputations and will call at least 15 witnesses to make good on its defence.
Former attorney-general Christian Porter is seeking to block the public from seeing portions of the ABC’s defence to claims that it defamed him with an article detailing historical rape allegations.
The High Court has granted special leave to hear a first-of-its-kind dispute over a number of airplane engines leased by the beleaguered Virgin Airlines, which may result in the airline’s administrators using company funds to cover the costs of shipping the engines back to Florida.
The “hypocrisy” of ABC journalist Louise Milligan in criticising the host of Media Watch for not seeking comment before a broadcast last month has aggravated the damage caused by her defamatory article, the former Attorney-General and accused rapist has told a court.
Former Solicitor-General Justin Gleeson SC, who recently called for an inquiry into Attorney-General Christian Porter’s fitness for office in the face of rape allegations, will represent the ABC against Porter’s defamation claims.
Judges have power to manage competing class actions by picking a winner in a so-called beauty parade, the High Court has ruled, but there is no one size fits all approach to the decision, and the law firm that files first is not guaranteed the coveted prize.