An inquiry into the allegation against Mr Porter, similar to the one ordered by Chief Justice Susan Kiefel into the Heydon allegations, has been suggested by a range of people. They include former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, parliamentarians, prominent lawyers and friends and family of the woman at the centre of the allegation. “She [Kiefel] did not seem to share the qualms of Mr Porter, that conducting such an inquiry would reverse the onus of proof that would somehow catapult us into a lawless state, where we’d have no protection of the law in the country,” said Jo Dyer, a friend of the woman behind the allegation. “We believe there are precedents in both the legal and the corporate world, where confidential inquiries can be sensitively handled, can be appropriately handled – that will allow everybody to have the opportunity to tell their story.

Porter’s internal investigation into judge reveals more complaints