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Christian Porter has accused ABC journalist Louise Milligan of engaging in a campaign to oust him as Attorney-General, according documents outlining his defamation suit.
Details of Mr Porter’s defamation proceedings against the ABC and Milligan, over a February article outlining details of an historical rape allegation, have emerged in his statement of claims.
The article revealed a “senior cabinet minister”, since revealed to be Mr Porter, had been accused of raping a 16-year-old in Sydney in 1988, which he categorically denied.
His office has announced he will return to work on March 31, after taking a period of mental health leave.
Mr Porter said an article published by Milligan on February 26, revealing the Prime Minister had received a document outlining the allegations, was part of a “campaign” to oust him from his role.
RELATED: Joyce breaks ranks, calls for independent Porter probe
NSW Police could not investigate the matter after the alleged victim took her own life last year, a day after telling them she no longer wanted to pursue it.
“The ABC and Milligan knew that the allegations could never be proved in any criminal or civil proceeding and despite that published the article to harm Porter and to ensure that he was publicly condemned and disgraced in the absence of any finding against him,” the complaint alleged.
An ABC spokesman confirmed the broadcaster would defend the action.
Under defamation laws, the broadcaster has available to it a number of potential defences, including truth, in which it would have to prove the allegation was true on the balance of probabilities.
Mr Porter said he would be prepared to testify under oath.
Four Corners aired an episode in November 2020 in which it accused Mr Porter of inappropriate sexual conduct. The 2020 broadcast did not include the rape allegation.
Mr Porter’s complaint said that by publishing the February article, which referred only to a “senior cabinet member”, Milligan and the ABC confected a scenario in which he would be “obliged” to out himself.
Mr Porter was widely named on social media, and the complaint claimed he was easily identifiable as one of just three male cabinet ministers of a similar age to the alleged victim.
After the Attorney-General outed himself, Four Corners aired a follow-up program outlining the allegation in detail.
“The ABC and Milligan were frustrated that they were unable to broadcast the allegations in the November Four Corners as they intended (because they were indefensible) and thus disingenuously published the article without naming Porter, in order to give effect to their intention to harm,” the complaint said.
It also accused Milligan of failing to disclose her “close friendship” with friends of the alleged victim.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has consistently refused to launch an independent inquiry into the allegation, claiming it would undermine the rule of law.
But Labor leader Anthony Albanese demanded he do so during a fiery parliamentary question time on Monday.
It comes after James Hooke, a former boyfriend of the alleged victim, revealed he had had what he considered “relevant discussions” with her about the alleged incident since mid-1988.
“These are all issues that require examination. The idea, as the Prime Minister has said, that we can just move on, that what has been happening over recent days and weeks can be unseen and unheard, is just not fair dinkum,” Mr Albanese said.
Mr Hooke said he also had “clear recollections of relevant discussions I had with Christian Porter” from 1992 to the mid-1990s.
Mr Porter claimed he had only been aware of a “whispering campaign … over the last few months”.
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