PEARCE MHR Christian Porter has discontinued his defamation case but is now taking legal action to stop some other media outlets from reporting on concealed parts of the ABC’s defence.
Earlier this month Mr Porter’s solicitor Rebekah Giles filed a discontinuance notice but on August 12 she filed an interlocutory application in the Federal Court to try and stop Nationwide News Pty Ltd, Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd and the Age Company Pty Ltd from reporting on the parts of the ABC defence not available to the public.
Lawyers for the other media outlets had the unpublished parts of the ABC’s defence provided to them when they applied unsuccessfully in May to have all of ABC’s defence document released.
The hearing will be held on August 18.
Last month the court ruled parts of the ABC’s defence would not be made public but it did grant the South Australian coroner access to the material.
On March 3 when Mr Porter identified himself as the Cabinet minister facing a historical rape allegation at the centre of an ABC story he said the allegations simply did not happen and on March 15 took legal action against the ABC and journalist Louise Milligan.
In May when the ABC filed its defence Mr Porter succeeded in keeping some of it suppressed.
When Mr Porter and the ABC decided to end the defamation case their agreement included that the ABC’s defence not be made public.
Some media outlets unsuccessfully applied for the suppressions to be lifted but the South Australian Coroner’s Court was successful in its application to access the material.
On July 28 Justice Jayne Jagot made an order that the ABC’s unredacted defence be provided to Tammy McPherson from the South Australian Coroner’s Court for the purpose of the investigation into the death of a person referred to in the unredacted defence.
The woman who made the historical rape allegation took her own life in June 2020 and in March this year South Australian state coroner David Whittle said the cause and circumstances of her death were under investigation by SA police on behalf of and at the direction of, the state coroner.
Two days after making an order allowing the coroner’s court access to the material, Justice Jagot ruled that the redacted parts of the ABC’s defence and Mr Porter’s reply would both be removed from the court file and were only to be opened or made available for inspection by the public with the permission of the court.
Justice Jagot said the order that the unredacted defence and unredacted reply be removed from the Court file was made on the ground that it was necessary to prevent prejudice to the proper administration of justice.
She said with the agreement of both parties, she varied the interim suppression and non-publication orders on July 28 to permit the South Australian Coroner’s Court access to the unredacted defence in accordance with a request received from that court.
