Former attorney-general Christian Porter and his defamation lawyer have been ordered to pay more than $430,000 to cover the legal costs of Jo Dyer, a friend of the woman who accused Mr Porter of raping her more than 30 years ago.
Ms Dyer had asked the Federal Court to stop Mr Porter's barrister, Sue Chrysanthou SC, from acting for him in a defamation case against the ABC last year.
Ms Dyer's lawyers successfully argued there was a conflict of interest because she had raised issues relating to the case with Ms Chrysanthou prior to her decision to represent Mr Porter.
Mr Porter was suing the public broadcaster over a story, published in February 2021, about an unnamed cabinet minister accused of an alleged historical sexual assault in the late 1980s.
He was not named in the story, but later revealed he was the politician at the centre of the allegation. Mr Porter strenuously denied any wrongdoing and accused the ABC of sensationalist reporting.
But he later discontinued the case, and the broadcaster has not paid any damages. The story remains online.
The case cost the ABC about $780,000 in legal fees.
Ms Dyer was a friend of the woman who had accused Mr Porter of the sexual assault.
Mr Porter and Ms Chrysanthou had been ordered to cover Ms Dyer's legal costs by Federal Court Justice Tom Thawley, but had been challenging the amount and Mr Porter is appealing the decision.
On Wednesday, the Federal Court revealed the costs amounted to $430,200.
Late last year, Mr Porter announced he would not contest the next election as the Liberal candidate for the outer-Perth electorate of Pearce.
He was shuffled from the attorney-general's position to the industry portfolio in March 2021, before stepping down from the ministry less than six months later.
Mr Porter had been widely criticised for allowing a blind trust to cover part of the legal costs he had racked up in his defamation suit against the ABC because the identity of the donors and the amount they had contributed had not been revealed.
He had said he would not pressure the donors to come forward because they had donated funds with the belief they would remain anonymous.
The government blocked an attempt to have his conduct referred to federal parliament's privileges committee.
An inquiry later found he had not broken the rules relating to parliamentarians' disclosure of financial interests and gifts, but recommended the rules needed to be changed.
Ms Dyer is contesting the next federal election as an independent candidate for the Adelaide electorate of Boothby — the most marginal electorate in South Australia, currently held by the Liberals.
