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ABC managing director David Anderson offered a face-to-face apology to Christian Porter for a series of social media posts by two of his senior journalists in the aftermath of the defamation matter involving the public broadcaster and the former attorney-general.
Formal mediation between Mr Porter and the ABC had only just concluded on Monday when Mr Anderson approached the Industry Minister to express his disappointment that the tweets by Four Corners reporter Louise Milligan and the show’s executive producer, Sally Neighbour, had tarnished what was achieved at the legal discussions earlier in the day, and had undone the goodwill between them.
Mr Anderson – who on Tuesday learned he would be recalled to front a Senate committee on Monday, at which he will be grilled about the legal costs incurred by the ABC over the course of the defamation matter – is understood to have told Mr Porter that he had done his “best to manage” his staff.
The conversation between the two men, in the presence of others, took place at the chambers where the mediation had been held, at 153 Phillip St, within sight of the Federal Court building in Sydney.
Mr Porter had returned to the building on Monday afternoon after his press conference, in which he announced he had settled his dispute with the ABC over its publication of historical rape allegations against him.
By the time of the conversation between Mr Porter and Mr Anderson, ABC general counsel Connie Carnabuci had already been forced to issue an apology to the Federal Court about the broadcaster jumping the gun and publicising the settlement before the judge presiding over the case had been able to consider the parties’ proposed consent orders.
The ink had barely dried on a deed of settlement and release signed by Mr Porter, the ABC and Milligan – agreeing the terms on which the former attorney-general’s defamation action would be withdrawn – when the ABC tweeted a link to a public statement on the outcome of the legal matter at 3.17pm, at the same time as Milligan posted that she “stood by her journalism”, followed by an inaccurate tweet by Neighbour at 3.18pm about the financial details of the case.
A copy of that tweet was sent to Mr Porter’s legal team about 3.26pm. It is understood Neighbour’s tweet was then brought to the attention of Ms Carnabuci while she was sitting in the mediation room.
Ms Carnabuci, the ABC’s general counsel for four years – and a Hong Kong-based partner at international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer for 11 years before that – sent an email to judge Jayne Jagot’s associate at 3.42pm. “We regret that a statement about the settlement of this matter has been issued by the ABC before Her Honour has had an opportunity to consider and make the consent orders,” her email said.
Louise Milligan. Picture: Stuart McEvoy
Sally Neighbour.
Neighbour’s tweet read: “BREAKING NOW! Christian Porter is dropping his defamation case against the ABC. No money was paid. We stand by our stories. #4 Corners #auspol.”
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Money was paid. Neighbour deleted her original tweet and sent another tweet at 3.33pm clarifying that no damages were paid — a concession that the ABC had paid money to Porter.
The ABC has rejected any suggestion the statement of regret written by Ms Carnabuci constituted an apology, and says it was completely unrelated to the tweets by Neighbour.
“This was not an apology and it did not concern Sally Neighbour,” an ABC spokeswoman said. However, the ABC declined to explain to what the statement sent by Ms Carnabuci was referring.
The ABC’s public statement issued at 3.17pm on Monday said Mr Porter had decided to discontinue the defamation case and that all parties had agreed not to pursue the matter any further, but the ABC stood by the importance of its reporting.
Milligan had also tweeted at 3.17pm that Mr Porter had discontinued his case and that she stood by her journalism. She issued another tweet at 4.22pm saying: “We are still absolutely committed to the 27 redacted pages being in the public domain.”
This was a reference to a section of the ABC’s defence that Mr Porter had argued was scandalous, vexatious and an abuse of process, and which the parties had agreed should be permanently removed from the court file.
It will be up to Justice Jagot to decide next month whether the defence should be made public.
Media outlets have argued that the public should be allowed to see the ABC’s defence.
The ABC on Wednesday declined to comment on details of any conversation between Mr Porter and Mr Anderson.
A spokesman for Mr Porter said the minister did not comment on private conversations.
The Australian understands Milligan and Neighbour had been asked by senior figures within the ABC not to tweet about the matter on Monday.
On Wednesday, Neighbour disputed a report about the ABC’s expression of regret sent to Justice Jagot. “For the record, this story in today’s Australian is WRONG,” she wrote on Twitter. “The note to the court had nothing to do with me or any tweet.”
