Lawyers move to withdraw allegation
PETER Slipper's lawyers have moved to withdraw one of the more controversial allegations made by the Speaker in his case against former staffer James Ashby.
In a points of claim document tendered in the lead-up to last month's abuse-of-process hearing, it is alleged Mr Ashby "unlawfully" copied extracts of the Speaker's official diary and sent them to his political rival, Mal Brough, and journalist Steve Lewis.
It is also alleged Mr Ashby knew the leaked material would be "used in an attempt to inflict damage on Slipper and, thereby, to promote the interests of Brough and the LNP at Slipper's expense".
On Wednesday, Mr Slipper's lawyers made an application to the Federal Court in Sydney to withdraw the word "unlawful" from their claims.
Justice Steven Rares will hear the application at a directions hearing on Friday.
The next official hearing in the sexual harassment case against the sidelined Speaker will be on October 2.
