Withdrawal of defamation action a win for the ABC, not Christian Porter
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June 1, 2021 7.25pm
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Christian Porter has been spinning like a top, but nothing can obscure the fact that the settlement of his defamation action against the ABC is a victory for the public broadcaster, and a strategic withdrawal by him.
Equally clear is that this isn’t over.
Christian Porter speaking to the media outside the Federal Court in Sydney on Monday.
Credit:ABC
On Monday, Jo Dyer – the main spokesperson for the friends of deceased complainant “Kate” – told me the group would continue to push for an inquiry so long as Porter “continued to seek high office … If he leaves politics, we will let the matter rest.”
Stokes hired Cronin as editor-in-chief of West Australian Newspapers after he bought the paper in 2008.
After the interview aired – and Weekly Beast heard it in full – we noticed it had been deleted from the 6PR website.
A few days later Cronin returned to the airways to clarify, correct and apologise to Stokes. The original interview was reposted with the offending material edited out.
We can’t repeat the potentially defamatory part of Cronin’s interview but we can tell you he said he was worried about concentration of media ownership, pointing to Stokes owning the West Australian, the Sunday Times, PerthNow and the Seven network, on top of his regional and suburban assets.
Journalists need to take social media responsibilities seriously
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April 16, 2021 â 11.55pm
April 16, 2021 â 11.55pm
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Four days after the ABC published its story about historic rape allegations against a cabinet minister, ABC journalist Louise Milligan tweeted on her personal account.
She said the NSW police had been âvery interested to know if I knew of other complainants against #CabinetMinister. My answer: âNot in your jurisdictionâ.
ABC journalist Louise Milligan.
That tweet now lies as a piece of unexploded ordinance in the hugely consequential defamation action by former Attorney-General Christian Porter against the ABC, and Milligan personally.