Fairfax Media and the ABC want to add three new complaints to their defence in Craig McLachlan's defamation trial, including claims of an "unwanted kiss" and "inappropriate touching", a court has heard.
The media companies last week added the new complainants related to McLachlan's television series The Doctor Blake Mysteries to their proposed further amended defences, the actor's barrister Matthew Richardson told the NSW Supreme Court on Friday.
"The conduct is mostly verbal. There is one unwanted kiss and one instance of inappropriate touching," Mr Richardson said of the accusations.
McLachlan is suing Fairfax, the ABC and former co-star Christie Whelan Browne over articles and reports claiming he bullied and indecently assaulted her and two other female cast members during a 2014 production of The Rocky Horror Show.
The actor has denied the allegations and the defamation hearing is set down for four weeks from February 4 in the NSW Supreme Court.
Mr Richardson began arguing his application on Friday to strike out Fairfax and the ABC's defences of contextual truth.
He said the three new complainants related to the 2013 to 2015 seasons of The Doctor Black Mysteries formed part of the proposed contextual truth defence for both organisations.
Also included is an allegation McLachlan "stuck a stiletto into Molly Meldrum" as "apparently recounted in Mr Meldrum's own memoir", his lawyer said.
Mr Richardson said some defence particulars were pleaded at the highest possible level of generality and weren't linked to one time or place, and some were so "hopelessly imprecise that they must go".
But defence barrister Tom Blackburn SC said most things targeted by McLachlan's lawyers had been in the defence since June and the new material was "quite confined".
The hearing continues next week.
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