Overview
- Justice Andrew Watson refused to transfer the dispute to the Federal Circuit and Family Court and denied a jury, ordering the defamation claim to proceed as a judge-alone matter with a possible November hearing.
- The case centres on a lewd photograph posted to Luke Sayers’ X account in January 2025 that was deleted within minutes and his subsequent statutory declaration blaming Cate Sayers.
- Court-released text messages soon after the post show Luke telling Cate that no one thought she had made the post, a contemporaneous account that conflicts with his later statutory declaration and is central to credibility disputes.
- Cate Sayers alleges the statutory declaration and related disclosures defamed her, breached confidence and invaded her privacy, and she says public proceedings are needed to clear her name.
- Keeping the case in the open Supreme Court preserves media reporting and public scrutiny of the AFL and Carlton inquiries, and may lead to subpoenas and further evidence about who received and circulated the declaration.