Upper house Victorian Liberal MPs office probed over anonymous blog, court documents allege

Victorian Liberal Party members have gone to extraordinary lengths to unmask the anonymous authors of a salacious blog more than two years after it surfaced.

Victorian Liberal MP Bev McArthur. Picture: Ian Currie

The office of an upper house Victorian Liberal MP has been probed over an anonymous blog that targeted party members and politicians, court documents say.

Upper house MP Bev Mc­Arthur was identified in Federal Court affidavits supplied to The Australian as suspected of being involved with Real Freedom News, a salacious gossip website that published serious allegations.

Screenshots appearing to indicate backups of the website had been emailed to Ms McArthur and IP addresses from which RFN posts originated seemed to come from her office, court documents say. Through her lawyers Ms McArthur strenuously denied any involvement, which exposed infighting and factional blow-ups that marred the party before it was shut down in the lead-up to the November 2022 state election.

“Our client has instructed us that she does not have, and has never had, any involvement with this publication,” the legal statement read. “She advises us she does not know who was/is behind it. Mrs McArthur is a well respected parliamentarian who enjoys a positive reputation as a hardworking representative.”

Victorian MP Bev McArthur. Picture: Alan Barber

Other senior Liberals and ex-party members were also investigated according to affidavits lodged with the Federal Court and released to The Australian.

About $30,000 – believed to have been paid by members, not the party – was spent on investigations according to a letter lodged with the court bundle, after former Liberal Party candidate Sean Armistead pursued the matter earlier this year after repeated failures to unearth the secret publishers.

Mr Armistead has applied to the Federal Court for preliminary discovery in an attempt to unmask those behind Real Freedom News, and issued a series of legal letters to party members, including Ms McArthur, IT consultant Mark Barrow, former state director Sam McQuestin and PayPal.

Mr Armistead is one of several federal and state party members targeted by the publication: in one story, a false allegation of sexual harassment and assault which he denies was published.

The site has been deactivated for now.

Sean Armistead in 2014.

Screenshots are attached to Mr Armistead’s January 25, 2023, affidavit that he says Edward Bourke – a Liberal Party staffer – sent to other members of the administrative committee. They show a series of email addresses, including ­[e-mail].

His affidavit summarises a conversation Mr Armistead was told took place between Mr Bourke and committee members, where Mr Bourke said words to the effect of: “The expert provided me with these screenshots that displayed an email address known to be used by Bev McArthur.”

“The screenshots indicated a backup of the website had been emailed to her. Bev McArthur is really behind the website,” Mr Bourke told members of the committee, according to Mr Armistead’s affidavit.

As well, Liberal Party member Peter Angelico said IT consultant Mr Barrow “conducted research” into the identity of the RFN publisher in his affidavit supplied to The Australian by the court, dated October 19, 2023.

“IP addresses from which numerous posts to the RFN website originated came from the office of an upper house MP, Bev Mc­Arthur”, Mr Angelico said Mr Barrow told him via a phone call, according to his affidavit.

In his own affidavit, supplied to The Australian by the court and dated October 19, 2023, Mr Barrow agreed he told Mr Angelico “changes were made to the website during work hours” but denied identifying Ms McArthur as a suspect. “I do not know who controls, or may have controlled, the RFN website,” he said in his affidavit.

Court documents also reveal the lengths members went to in trying to unmask the publishers.

They employed US-based internet defamation lawyer Minc LLC managing attorney Daniel Powell, who supplied a formal statement attached to Mr Armistead’s January affidavit. Mr Powell said he believed “individuals responsible for the website have gone to extraordinary lengths to mask his/her/their identity”.

A copy of a Cyber­trace report was supplied by Mr Bourke after Mr Armistead requested information from him for the proceedings. It was attached to Mr Armistead’s affidavit dated May 19, 2023, and identified “primary suspects” whom The Australian has chosen not to name. It did not identify Ms McArthur as a suspect.

The matter returns to court on November 28, when Mr Barrow is set to give evidence in person.