Yet just over a week ago they found themselves unlikely bedfellows when Jarratt was acquitted of a historic rape charge after a jury took just 90 minutes to find unanimously he was not guilty. Following his acquittal Jarratt quickly resumed defamation proceedings against The Daily Telegraph and journalist Jonathan Moran. (The proceedings were originally launched after the media outlet reported the accusations against Jarratt before he had been charged. They were then suspended to allow the criminal matter to be heard.) The week before the headline-making Jarratt verdict, Sir Cliff was making news in Britain, after launching a petition calling for anonymity for sexual offence suspects before they are charged. He said the campaign was intended to "re-balance" the legal system". Police raided Sir Cliff's home in 2014 during an investigation into a sexual assault claim. He was never arrested, charged or convicted and went on to successfully sue the BBC for invasion of privacy after it covered the raid from a news helicopter hovering above his home. The star said the media coverage of the raid left his reputation "in tatters".

Currently, alleged victims of sexual offences receive lifelong anonymity under UK and Australian laws, but only a few Australian states have any law against publicly naming a suspect. Suspects are usually not named by police until they are formally charged. This poses a serious predicament for journalists and the media, and indeed the timing of stories that name high-profile suspects is absolutely critical. Jarratt was splashed across the front page of The Daily Telegraph when it first reported the allegations against him. The first paragraph even carried a reference to Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, who has been the focus of the global #metoo movement and seen his marriage and career implode as a result. While police confirmed an investigation was underway they did not name Jarratt. The actor was yet to be charged with anything and had already strenuously denied the allegations to the paper, which was reported in the second paragraph of the story. Not helping matters was the image selected to run with the story showing Jarratt in character as the menacing and evil Wolf Creek killer.

Now Jarratt, who has not been found guilty of anything, is suing for defamation, just as Geoffrey Rush successfully did previously, when, despite his vehement denials, he too was plastered across the front page of The Daily Telegraph under the headline "King Leer" in a story which was also written by Moran. Geoffrey Rush responds to the Federal Court judgment in April. Credit:AAP The accuser in the Rush story, actress Eryn Jean Norvill, never wanted any publicity and had never spoken to the paper or made any statement before the story was published. The Tele is appealing the record $2.9million defamation verdict awarded against it, citing 16 grounds on which it claims the trial was miscarried. It also said that Justice Michael Wigney’s conduct of the case “gave rise to an apprehension of bias”. Australian actress Eryn Norvill arrives at the Supreme Court to hear the defamation case by Geoffrey Rush against The Daily Telegraph. Credit:James Brickwood

But the collateral emotional damage for those involved, not least Rush and Norvill, is hard for an outsider to truly fathom. While Rush has been awarded damages, Norvill, a far less known actor, comes away with none. No doubt keeping a close eye on all this is former Gold Logie winner Craig McLachlan, who has also begun defamation action against The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and one actress over news reports last year that alleged he engaged in sexual harassment and indecent assault during a production of The Rocky Horror Show. Craig McLachlan appears at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on charges he sexually assaulted cast mates during the Rocky Horror Show. Credit:Eddie Jim The defamation trial has been postponed until the criminal proceedings are finished. McLachlan is to face a three-week contested hearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court from November 18 on seven charges of indecent assault, one of common assault and one of attempted indecent assault. In civil defamation proceedings the standard of proof is determined on the balance of probability, however in criminal matters such as sexual assault charges, the charge has to be proved beyond reasonable doubt.