Christian Porter acting for Mick Gatto in his high court appeal over ABC defamation case

The former attorney general, Christian Porter, is acting for underworld figure Mick Gatto in a bid for a high court appeal in his defamation case against the ABC.

Gatto sued the public broadcaster and reporters Nino Bucci, who now works for Guardian Australia, and Sarah Farnsworth over an article he says falsely accused him of threatening to kill the gangland lawyer and police informant, Nicola Gobbo.

In May, Gatto applied to the high court for special leave to appeal the decision. According to submissions dated 11 May, filed with the court and seen by Guardian Australia, he is represented by barristers Guy Reynolds, Porter, and Daniel Ward.

Barristers in Australia are subject to the cab rank rule, meaning they are prohibited from rejecting a case except in limited circumstances, guaranteeing clients pick their counsel, not the other way around.

In February Guardian Australia reported that Porter, who retired from politics at the 2022 election, had created two new private companies, Henley Stirling Lawyers Pty Ltd and Henley Stirling Consultants Pty Ltd, to prepare for life after politics.

They called on the high court to hear the case, arguing the full federal court and Victorian appeal court have differed on the correct standard for review.

In March 2021, Porter named himself as the person at the centre of an ABC report which reported allegations of a 1988 rape against an unnamed cabinet minister, levelled by a woman who had since died.

Guardian Australia contacted Porter for comment.