Porter launches defamation action against the ABC
Attorney-General Christian Porter has launched Federal Court defamation proceedings against the ABC over an online article that he alleges portrays him as the perpetrator of a ‘‘brutal’’ rape that contributed to a woman taking her own life.
The lawsuit is expected to put an end to calls for a public inquiry into his fitness to remain in office because a trial would ventilate many of the same issues before a judge, and involve the same witnesses.
In a statement of claim filed on Monday, lawyers for Porter, who is on medical leave, seek damages, including aggravated damages, for a February 26 article published on the ABC’s
website, headlined ‘‘Scott Morrison, senators and AFP told of historical rape allegation against Cabinet Minister’’.
ABC journalist Louise Milligan, who broke the story, is also named as a party to the lawsuit.
Porter, who is not named in the ABC article, has retained a trio of high-powered lawyers, including Sydney barristers Bret Walker, SC, and Sue Chrysanthou, SC, and solicitor Rebekah Giles.
‘‘Over the last few weeks, the Attorney-General has been subjected to trial by media without regard to the presumption of innocence or the rules of evidence and without any proper disclosure of the material said to support the untrue allegations,’’ Giles said in a statement yesterday.
‘‘The trial by media should now end with the commencement of these proceedings.’’