Christian Porter has moved to strike out major sections of the ABC’s defence of his defamation claim, and prevent them from becoming public, accusing the public broadcaster of abusing the court process. After a storm of media attention, in early March Porter identified himself as the minister and strenuously denied the allegation. Guardian Australia understands that the ABC defence filed to the court denies that it identified Porter, and denies the article contained the defamatory meanings alleged by him. In the meantime, Porter asked that the schedules be treated as confidential and that they not be distributed or available for inspection to any third party outside the proceedings. He asked that the ABC give particulars of their denials contained in the still unpublished defence and pay his costs.

Source: The Guardian May 06, 2021 09:04 UTC