Former Labor staffer pursues defamation case against WA Liberal Party

Former media adviser files against LNP over an attack it launched after he was accused of indecently assaulting a colleague.

Steve Kaless with his wife Tam Lindsey. Picture: Colin Murty / The Australian

The West Australian Liberal Party is being pursued for defamation over an attack it launched against a Labor staffer accused of indecently assaulting a colleague.

Steve Kaless, the former media adviser to WA Treasurer Ben Wyatt, has filed a writ in WA’s ­Supreme Court alleging he was “grossly and falsely” defamed in a video produced by the Liberals and posted to the party’s Facebook page shortly after he was ­alleged to have inappropriately touched a co-worker following a staff Christmas party.

The attack video, which portrayed Mr Kaless as an example of “Labor’s toxic culture towards women”, sits in contrast to the federal Liberal Party’s staunch ­defence of Attorney-General Christian Porter.

Scott Morrison has maintained that the rape allegation made against Mr Porter is not ­sufficient reason to remove him from his role.

“We can’t have a situation where the mere making of an allegation, and that being publicised through the media, is grounds for governments to stand people down,” the Prime Minister said earlier this month.

The video attacking Mr Kaless was published on the WA Liberal Party’s Facebook page on ­December 20, 2019, weeks before Mr Kaless was eventually charged by police.

He was found not guilty at a trial last August after closed-circuit television footage from within the Ritz-Carlton’s Hearth bar found he had not assaulted the colleague as she had alleged. ­According to the writ, the Liberal Party video was downloaded and viewed more than 13,500 times.

Mr Kaless has been unemployed since he was “forced” by the office of WA Premier Mark McGowan to stand down from his role with Mr Wyatt.

As part of the defamation claim against the Liberal Party, Mr Kaless is also seeking “special damages being the loss of the plaintiff’s income-earning ­capacity in the plaintiff’s profession of calling”. Both the WA Liberal Party and Mr Kaless were contacted for comment.