Christian Porter’s barrister says accuser’s friends were ‘like a cult’

The friends of Christian Porter’s accuser were “behaving like a cult” and would wage a spin war against his barrister, a court has heard.

The friends of Christian Porter’s accuser were “behaving like a cult” and “would make it very bad” for the politician’s barrister by railing against her in the press if she took on the case, a court has heard.

But the barrister has also been asked whether she misled the media and used a $150,000 legal bill to discourage her legal opponents from taking her to court.

Mr Porter is fighting to keep his barrister, Sue Chrysanthou SC, on his team as he sues the ABC after they published rape allegations from a woman named “Kate”.

The politician claims the ABC identified him as the subject of Kate’s allegation, which he vigorously denies. Kate took her own life in 2020 after declining to formally speak with police.

Former Attorney General Christain Porter in Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Mr Porter enlisted Ms Chrysanthou but that triggered a legal challenge from Kate’s friends who had spoken with the same barrister about Kate’s allegations months earlier - in November 2020.

Kate’s friend, Jo Dyer claims, Ms Chrysanthou has “confidential information” about the case and fears it could be used to help Mr Porter win his lawsuit against the ABC.

Ms Chrysanthou shares a mutual friend with Kate’s former boyfriend James Hooke - barrister Matthew Richardson - and he was acting for Ms Dyer.

“Matthew was upset,” Ms Chrysanthou said, recalling the moment she told Ms Dyer’s camp she was taking Mr Porter as a client.

“He told me he was worried for me and that (Kate’s) friends were obsessed or behaving like a cult on this topic and they wouldn’t let go.”

“They would talk to the media and make it very bad for me. And he was very upset how that would impact me and how it would impact him.”

Sue Chrysanthou leaves the Supreme Court in Sydney on Wednesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Joel Carrett.

Ms Chrysanthou said she’d spoken with senior barristers about defending Mr Porter after she’d consulted Ms Dyer months earlier.

But, she told the court, the only one who thought there was a conflict was Mr Richardson.

Mr Richardson allegedly told Ms Chrysanthou he was concerned for her because it would be “a mess” in the media.

“He thought his friends would make public statements about it that would defame me.”

Ms Dyer is represented in court by a different barrister, Michael Hodge QC, who cross-examined Ms Chrysanthou on Wednesday.

Ms Chrysanthou, in her evidence, told the Federal Court she had seen a media release issued by Mr Porter’s legal team that said the politician was concerned about the timing of the legal challenge.

She disagreed with Ms Dyer’s barrister that the statement was “misleading” saying it simply “reflects Mr Porter’s concerns”.

ABC journalist Louise Milligan, who allegedly spoke with Ms Dyer days after Kate’s death. Picture: Brett Costello

Ms Chrysanthou was also asked about legal letters, sent to Ms Dyer in the lead up to the challenge, that said the barrister was facing $150,000 in legal bills.

“Do you agree the framing of the letter is intended to create the impression to Ms Dyer that there would be very serious consequences if she was to proceed?” Mr Hodge asked.

Ms Chrysanthou disagreed and told the court she’d heard Ms Dyer could not pay for an hour of a silk’s time.

Ms Chrysanthou also told the court she was worried after Ms Dyer’s lawyers asked her not to draw public attention to the legal challenge.

The barrister said she feared journalists would see her distinctive name on the court list and draw negative conclusions.

“I don’t have a surname like ‘Smith’, I was concerned if they saw me as a defendant on the court list they’d make speculation or assumption as to why I was being sued,” she said.

“I didn’t understand why this should be conducted in secret and I had concerns about that.”

The matter will return to court for closing statements on Thursday and Justice Tom Thawley could hand down a judgement as soon as Thursday evening.

Sue Chrysanthou says she became concerned after being asked to keep the legal case private. Picture: Getty Images

The court, this week, heard Ms Dyer had spoken with ABC journalist Louise Milligan days after Kate’s death.

Ms Dyer said Ms Milligan advised her to delete messages from the encrypted messaging apps when they began talking about the allegations – and she did so ‘en masse’ some months ago.

Ms Dyer also told the court she wanted the allegations against Mr Porter to emerge to end his dreams of becoming Prime Minister.

She said Kate and her had spoken that – even if police never successfully prosecuted Mr Porter – it would be a form of “justice” to keep him from the nation’s top job by airing the allegations.