[3] Despite garnering more than 33% of the vote and providing a favourable swing of more than 5% for the ALP, Cannane lost to Liberal Party stalwart Michael MacKellar who had held the seat since 1969.
[3] It was there he was approached by the ABC to work at their youth network Triple J after writing a newspaper article where he opined the organisation wasn't providing sufficient on-air opportunities for young people.
Also in July 2010, Cannane broke the story of harassment of the parents of a child who died of whooping cough by the anti-vaccination lobby,[14] the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN) on Lateline.
His story was the first to expose the lobby group as callous and cruel, with revelations that their President Meryl Dorey, had sought to access medical records of the child as evidence she had died from a pertussis infection.
[16] In November 2010 he was recognised[17] for "...his honest and diligent approach to journalism and the pursuit of truth in all of its aspects and wherever it may lead" at the Australian Skeptics National Convention where he was also a speaker.
[22][23] After an eight-week trial which was held entirely on Microsoft Teams due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the lawsuit was dismissed in late 2020 with Justice Jayne Jagot ruling in favour of Cannane and HarperCollins with Gill and Herron ordered to pay costs.
[24] According to Jagot, as a medical practitioner Herron "had no residual reputation to be protected" while she said Gill was "held in very low estimation by the relevant sector" prior to the release of Cannane's book.
[24] Gill and Herron appealed the decision to the full Federal Court in August 2021 because they believed the use 26 year old reports prepared by dead expert witnesses from a Royal Commission doesn't contribute to a fair trial upon their behalf.
[26] The Federal Court of appeal, consisting of justices Steven Rares, Michael Lee and Micheal Wigney, agreed unanimously that fundamental errors were made in the original trial by Jagot and that this would in turn justify a retrial.
The Federal Court's main contention with Jagot's original findings was that they primarily relied upon multiple Royal Commission expert reports prepared by doctors who are now deceased.
Therefore, in the upcoming retrial Cannane and HarperCollins are unable to use qualified privilege and the Royal Commission reports to defend themselves against the claim of defamation against Dr Gill and Mr Herron.