Mr Hockey is suing The Sydney Morning Herald, The Canberra Times and The Age for a series of articles under the headline, "Treasurer For Sale", which probed his relationship with a group known as The North Sydney Forum.

The Treasurer appeared in court flanked by his wife, Melissa Babbage and barrister Bruce McClintock Q.C who attacked the newspaper's editors for launching what he called a "calculated plan to attack (Mr Hockey)."