Former Liberal frontbencher Sophie Mirabella secretly recorded a conversation with federal minister Ken Wyatt in a bid to strengthen her defamation case against a regional newspaper which claimed she had pushed him, a court has heard.
Mrs Mirabella has given at times tearful evidence in her trial against north-east Victorian newspaper the Benalla Ensign and its then-editor Libby Price over an article it published in the lead-up to the 2016 federal election.
The story was published while Mrs Mirabella, the former member for Indi, fought to regain the seat from independent MP Cathy McGowan.
It claimed Mrs Mirabella had pushed Ms McGowan out of a photo opportunity with the Minister for Aged Care, Mr Wyatt, at the opening of a nursing home in Benalla.
In defending the case, the newspaper admitted it got the story wrong but claimed Mrs Mirabella instead pushed Mr Wyatt to prevent him from being in the photo.
The jury today heard, on the second day of the trial in Wangaratta, that Mrs Mirabella secretly recorded a conversation she had with Mr Wyatt on the sidelines of a federal Liberal council meeting in Sydney last year.
Mrs Mirabella said she wanted to get Mr Wyatt on the record saying that he had not been pushed.
She told the jury he confirmed she had not pushed him but said she had put her hands on his chest.
"I'm a touchy person," she said.
Under cross-examination, Mrs Mirabella denied it was deceitful to have recorded the conversation without telling Mr Wyatt.
"It was a chance encounter … there were people around us, they could have listened, they could have joined in if they wanted to," she said.
"It was not some secret little meeting somewhere."
Mirabella describes 'devastating' and 'gut-wrenching' article
Mrs Mirabella broke down several times during questioning as she told a jury of the "gut-wrenching" fallout from the Benalla Ensign's article.
She said she felt sick when she was alerted to the article accusing her of "assault".
"This was accusing me of pushing an older woman … who could be … looks like she's old enough to be an elder citizen, a grandmother," she said.
"I knew this was devastating ... this would go viral.
"You've got an election campaign, you've got all these newspapers saying Indi is a seat to watch and bang — here's a journalist, Libby Price, 30-year journalist at the ABC … she was probably respected more than other ABC journalists by the traditional conservative voter, and she had written this," Mrs Mirabella said.
Article was the 'last straw'
The court heard that one of Mrs Mirabella's staffers called Price on the morning the article was published to correct the story, and ask why she hadn't been contacted for comment.
"Libby Price responded, 'Well, she would have denied it anyway'," Mrs Mirabella said.
"I was just beside myself because I've never come across a journalist who's responded in that way."
Mrs Mirabella believed the story would "totally blacken" her name.
"I'm not a sensitive, delicate wallflower … and I've put up with a lot of stuff, but this was the last straw, to be called someone who pushes, assaults other women, it was disgusting," Mrs Mirabella said as she began to cry on the witness stand.
She said it was "gut-wrenching" because she knew if the newspaper didn't correct the story, she had no way to clear her name.
The court heard Mrs Mirabella soon engaged a lawyer to send a letter to the Benalla Ensign to request a retraction and apology, but neither was given until six months later.
The newspaper has admitted it got the story wrong but denies it was defamatory.
Mrs Mirabella said she felt "totally and utterly powerless" as the story was picked up by major news outlets including The Australian newspaper, ABC News, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Huffington Post.
Jury hears reasons why Mirabella wanted to stop photo op
The court also heard evidence about the media event at Cooinda nursing home in Benalla where the incident was reported to have taken place.
Mrs Mirabella said she had tried to convince Mr Wyatt not to have a photograph with Ms McGowan.
"We couldn't have the perpetuation of this myth that Ms McGowan was Liberal-lite," she said.
"That's what she'd been doing and it would be helpful in our campaign not to assist in that regard and he'd told me that he'd already said he'd have a photo with her."
Mrs Mirabella said she told Mr Wyatt to tell Ms McGowan he didn't have time for a photo and she accompanied him to deliver the message.
"We walk up to face Cathy and she's standing in front of the plaque and Ken says to her, 'Sorry, I don't have time for a photo'," Mrs Mirabella said.
"And she said, 'Oh well, it's OK, it'll only take a minute' and turned to me and said, 'You don't mind Sophie, do you?'
"I said, 'Since you've asked, yes I do mind Cathy. If you wanted to have promotional material with a Liberal minister, you should have run for preselection'.
"She huffed and turned her back and I said, 'It's OK Cathy, it's OK'," Mrs Mirabella told the jury.
Mrs Mirabella said all parties involved left the nursing home for other meetings and that "no-one at any time suggested that I'd pushed Cathy McGowan".
Lawyers for the Benalla Ensign have told the court Mr Wyatt will give evidence that Mrs Mirabella put her hands on his chest and prevented him from taking part in the photograph.
Mrs Mirabella continues to give evidence at the trial, which is expected to run for six days.
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