PS Better get the police to polish up the old polygraph machine because I reckon they'll need it to solve this one.

SR,

Even someone as woke as you should be able to realise that an accusation of a "brutal rape" is extremely damaging to a person's reputation. If the accusation is false, that makes it defamation.

A media source that publishes an accusation that is false is as guilty of defamation as the original person making the accusation but because it broadcasts this accusation to many more people is responsible for far more damage and thus far more damages.

Given the catastrophic damage that such an accusation will have, there is an onus on any media organisation to ensure that the accusation can be proven at least on the balance of probability.

The court case will be about whether the ABC can show that this accusation has merit. If it can do so Porter's career is ruined, if it can't Porter is essentially exonerated and the ABC is reputationally and financially damaged.

shifty&shadyminister,

I don't think the ABC said that Porter was the rapist. Didn't the ABC just say that the rapist was currently serving as a Cabinet minister.

I couldn't work out who it might be until Porter came out and told the public that he was the person who had been named by the woman as the rapist. Why didn't he just keep his mouth shut. Everyone would have been left guessing. He's the one who put a name to the mystery man.

Unless you are saying that it was not Porter who had been named by the rape victim. Is that what you are saying?

One thing seems certain: the woman recalled being raped by someone in 1988 and she reported it to the police. That is a fact. And that is what the ABC reported.

And you are saying that it wasn't Porter. I assume you are saying that because you know who the rapist is. Are you going to report it to the police or volunteer to be a witness at the defamation hearings?

shifty&shadyminister,

The ABC is not the police and it is not authorized to conduct police investigations.

So won't the police have to re-open the case to determine who raped the woman in 1988?

I believe she was raped by and like most people I am interested to find out who did it and see justice done.

Do you think that is the best approach?

Mr uneducated,

That you "don't think" is the key to your last post, that you don't read should be added.

No one has claimed that the ABC article name Porter, rather that it gave sufficient detail to easily identify him which is exactly what the defamation suit has claimed.

shifty&shadyminister,

So are you saying he did not want to be identified as the person who the woman claimed had raped her?