A former Member of Parliament, Annabel Digance, has initiated legal action against South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas, seeking $2.3 million in damages. The lawsuit, filed in the Supreme Court, accuses Malinauskas of malicious prosecution intended to tarnish her reputation, motivated by his personal and political interests.
Digance’s allegations extend to claims of trespass, wrongful arrest, and false imprisonment by South Australia Police. She argues that her political career was targeted following a meeting between Malinauskas and her husband, Greg Digance, in November 2019, where Malinauskas purportedly discussed strategies to advance her political ambitions.
The lawsuit asserts that Malinauskas unlawfully recorded a conversation during a café meeting with Mr. Digance in February 2020. Defence documents from the state government allege that during this encounter, Mr. Digance threatened to harm Malinauskas’s career if his wife was not provided a seat in parliament.
In March 2020, Malinauskas reported the meeting to law enforcement, claiming he was a victim of blackmail. David Digance states that, as part of an undercover operation, police recorded attempts by Malinauskas to extract incriminatory evidence from her. Astonishingly, in December 2020, Malinauskas insisted that the investigation halt until after the upcoming state election, according to Digance’s claims.
The situation escalated in March 2021 when Malinauskas opposed a parliamentary inquiry into harassment issues that Digance supported, allegedly fearing it would expose damaging information about him. By April of that year, he requested her prosecution, culminating in her arrest on April 14, when both she and her husband were charged with blackmail. Malinauskas publicly stated the arrest was a basis to suspend the inquiry just a day later.
In April 2023, prosecutors chose not to pursue the blackmail charges against the Digances after they agreed to cease contact with Malinauskas and his family. In response to the lawsuit, Malinauskas and the state government have denied the claims and are seeking to dismiss the case outright.
Malinauskas expressed in a statement that, given the Digances’ history, their current legal action is unsurprising and reiterated his desire for them to cease their interference in his duties as Premier. The case is set to be heard in court on Wednesday.