Sarah Hanson-Young, David Leyonhjelm seek donations to help pay for defamation action
SA Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has asked for public donations to fund her legal action against Senator David Leyonhjelm over their bitter slanging match — and he’s looking for the same.
GREENS Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is seeking public donations to fund legal action against NSW Liberal Democrat Senator David Leyonhjelm over their bitter slanging match and has promised to donate any defamation payout to charity.
Senator Leyonhjelm is also seeking donations to defend defamation action from Senator Hanson-Young and says any excess funds will be used to fight the Greens at elections.
Lawyers for Senator Hanson-Young are expected to formally launch court action against Senator Leyonhjelm later this week after he refused to apologise and compensate the SA Green for comments he made about her personal life in media interviews.
In an email to supporters, Senator Hanson-Young asked them to consider supporting a campaign to raise funds for her case via the gofundme website.
“Making sure women are respected, whether it be in their homes, in their workplaces, or in the corridors and chambers of Parliament House, is something we can all be a part of,” she wrote.
The campaign was established by public health expert Emeritus Professor Simon Chapman and author Jane Caro.
In the event the case was upheld, all compensation and funds raised would be donated to the children’s charity Plan International and to Women’s Legal Service (SA).
Senator Leyonhjelm confirmed he wouldn’t be apologising for the comments he made about Senator Hanson-Young.
He said any excess funds from his gofundme campaign would be “put towards fighting the Greens in elections. Australia needs new voices in parliament.”
On Monday night, the running total on his campaign was $8000.