The defamation action between Christian Porter and the ABC has ended without going to court, with the former attorney-general settling for an ABC acknowledgement it hadn’t suggested he was guilty, regretted some may have read its report that way, and did not contend the accusations against him could be substantiated to a legal standard. There were no damages awarded and the ABC paid only mediation costs (apart from its own).

As Michelle Grattan writes, both parties claimed vindication. Porter, she says, might have judged the case too risky — and certainly too expensive — to continue, and considered it “better to spin a settlement than play for more and possibly lose everything”. The broadcaster, meanwhile, stood by its report by investigative journalist Louise Milligan.

Porter says he will — to the surprise of some — recontest the next election. But whatever ambitions he may have nursed of becoming his party’s leader have been well and truly laid to rest.

Amanda Dunn

Section Editor: Politics + Society

Dean Lewis/AAP

View from The Hill: Porter decides it’s time to ‘fold em’ in ABC defamation case

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

Christian Porter has settled in his defamation case against the ABC and reporter Louise Milligan

Wes Mountain/The Conversation

Scott-free no more? Why the prime minister’s smooth media run may be coming to an end

Denis Muller, The University of Melbourne

After months of favourable coverage, this weekend may have marked a turning point in the media's portrayal of Scott Morrison.

Joe Allison/AAP

As Morrison and Ardern meet, differences of opinion give way to the enduring close relationship

Mark Kenny, Australian National University

While some tensions over China and Australia's deportation of criminals continue to niggle, the bigger picture is the continued strength of the trans-Tasman relationship.

Shutterstock

Could a simple pill beat COVID-19? Pfizer is giving it a go

Peter Wark, University of Newcastle

This treatment would work by targeting the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself and stopping it in its tracks. The evidence we have so far is promising, but it's still very early days.

WarnerMedia

Friends: making audiences laugh by embracing the unexpected in conversation

Elizabeth Stokoe, Loughborough University

Friends has made audiences laugh by breaching what we expect to happen when people speak.

Shutterstock

‘I always get horny … am I not normal?’: teenage girls often feel shame about pleasure. Sex education needs to address this

Melissa Kang, University of Technology Sydney

Melissa Kang answered hundreds of questions from girls for the Dolly Doctor column. What she found on analysis was a sense of shame when young women experienced sexual pleasure.

Arts + Culture

Science + Technology

Business + Economy

Environment + Energy

Health + Medicine

Politics + Society

 

Featured jobs

More Jobs
 
 
 
 
 
 

Featured Events & Courses

Curious Kids - The Conversation

191 Boundary St, West End, Queensland, 4101, Australia — The Conversation

What COVID forgot

Online webinar, Sydney, New South Wales, 2206, Australia — University of Sydney

Authentic leadership

Online, Workshop , Victoria, 3000 , Australia — Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG)

More events & courses
 

​Contact us here to list your job, or here to list your event or course.

For sponsorship opportunities, email us here