Federal government minister Christian Porter has discontinued his defamation action against the ABC and Louise Milligan, just days after a court ruled that silk Sue Chrysanthou could not represent him.
A judge has issued an injunction restraining barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC from acting for Christian Porter in his defamation case against the ABC.
Former attorney-general Christian Porter has dodged a question about whether his defamation lawsuit against the ABC and reporter Louise Milligan is being funded by third parties, saying he went into the litigation knowing the case would be a “massive drain” on his finances.
A former solicitor in the Victorian Office of Public Prosecutions who claims she suffered severe post-traumatic stress disorder and depression from repeated exposure to sexual offence cases will get a chance to make her case before the High Court.
Senior barrister Sue Chrysanthou has rejected claims that she has failed in her duties as a barrister by representing federal minister Christian Porter in his defamation proceedings against the ABC over coverage of rape allegations.
Lawyers retained by former attorney-general Christian Porter have accused the ABC of making “improper” allegations against Porter’s counsel, who is facing calls for her to return her brief to act for him in defamation proceedings against the national broadcaster.
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.
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.