Christian Porter headed to court in May in defamation fight with ABC and Louise Milligan
Attorney-General Christian Porter’s defamation lawsuit against the ABC and a journalist now has its first court date.
Christian Porter’s defamation case against the ABC will be heard in the Federal Court for the first time in May as the Attorney-General fights back against what he has called a “trial by media”.
Mr Porter is suing the public broadcaster and journalist Louise Milligan over an article which stated that a letter sent to Prime Minister Scott Morrison contained historical rape allegations against a member of Cabinet.
He has strenuously denied the allegations that he sexually assaulted a young woman in January 1998 when he was 17-years-old.
In the Federal Court on Thursday, Justice Jayne Jagot ordered that the ABC file its defence before May 4, with Mr Porter’s reply to be served by May 11.
The matter will first be heard in court during a case management hearing on May 14.
Mr Porter’s legal team have also been ordered to provide further and better particulars of identification, republication and aggravated damages.
His lawyer Rebekah Giles this week said the Attorney-General had launched proceedings against Ms Milligan and the ABC.
Mr Porter, who is expected to give evidence during the case, has argued that the articles were published without regard for the presumption of innocence.
He has claimed that he did not have any sexual contact with the woman and labelled the allegations as baseless.
He was not named in the report however his lawyers claim he was “easily identifiable to many Australians”.
Mr Porter held a press conference on March 3 in which he identified himself as the person who was the subject of the historical allegations.
The ABC has previously said that the public broadcaster would be defending the action.
Mr Porter is on leave and will resume work on March 31.