The developers at the heart of the Casey planning scandal used defamation threats against The Sunday Age as part of an elaborate strategy to win approval for a rezoning proposal that would have netted them more than $100 million.

Telephone intercepts and seized memos tendered to anti-corruption commission hearings into land deals this fortnight provide a rare insight into the way defamation is used by wealthy and powerful individuals to try to discredit and “put the fear of god up” journalists.

Developer John Woodman leaves the anti-corruption hearings last week. Credit:Justin McManus

This comes as The Age campaigns with the wider media industry for reforms to protect press freedom.

The phone taps and documents reveal how developer John Woodman plotted to discredit reports in The Sunday Age after it raised concerns over his outsized influence at Liberal-linked Casey Council and with local Labor MPs.