Melbourne barrister Marcel White says a court order forcing Ms Corbett to publicly apologise in a Sydney newspaper over comments likening gays and paedophiles could set a dangerous precedent for politicians and political aspirants. 

“This appeal raises issues around free speech within the election process and the extent to which candidates for Parliament can rely on exemptions from anti-discrimination laws during interviews with the media,” Mr White told The Standard. 

Ms Corbett sparked outrage in January this year while campaigning as the Wannon candidate for Katter’s Australia Party. 

She dropped out of the race but was approached by the Australian Christians months later to stand again in the seat. 

“Ms Corbett ended up running for Parliament with the Australian Christians party and many Christians around Australia have been following her case because she expressed opinions on moral issues in response to media questions about her candidacy,” Mr White said. 

“The ability for Christians to make contributions to civic life, and whether it is legitimate for the state or other interested persons to restrict those contributions, is a central issue arising from the Corbett media interviews.”

No date has been set for an appeal hearing. 

Mr White also intends to challenge jurisdictional issues over the New South Wales Anti-Discrimination Board order.

The Standard understands Mr White is handling the case pro bono — but he would not confirm or deny if he was handling it free of charge. 

Gay rights activist Gary Burns, who brought the case against Ms Corbett, remains confident the ruling will be upheld as she did not attend any of the tribunal hearings in Sydney. 

Mr White said his client had been unable to attend the hearingS because of the remoteness of her home.

“Ms Corbett’s absence from the original hearings was in large part caused by the remoteness of her home in Lake Bolac from the tribunal in the Sydney CBD, which is nearly 1000km away, a fair few ‘country miles’ in the old parlance,” he said.