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Judge Curbs Access as Luke and Cate Sayers Clash Over Defamation and Court Venue

Moving the case to the federal family court would mean a judge-only trial with tighter media rules.

Overview

  • The Supreme Court of Victoria heard Monday an application by Luke Sayers to move his estranged wife's defamation suit to the federal family court.
  • Justice Andrew Watson briefly closed the hearing and turned off the livestream after concerns about the case drawing intense social media attention.
  • Both sides said the case rests on credibility, with Sayers denying he published the explicit X post.
  • Sayers says he gave a statutory declaration to AFL legal figures Stephen Meade and Christopher Townshend to defend his interests under qualified privilege.
  • Cate Sayers alleges that document defamed her and revealed private medical and sexual details, after a January 2025 post of his penis on his X account tagged a sponsor manager and was quickly deleted.