Heston Russell disbands his Australian Values Party

As his case against the ABC heads to trial, Heston Russell has disbanded his political party.

Former soldier Heston Russell has disbanded the Australian Values Party, the party he founded in September 2021.

The party never had any successful candidates at elections, however did managed two different political representatives.

Former Justice Party MP Catherine Cumming joined the party shortly before last year's Victorian state election. She was not re-elected in the Western Metropolitan Region.

More recently, Joe Gianfriddo - who ran for the AVP in the same election in the North-Eastern Metropolitan Region - was elected via countback to Stonnington City Council.

The party is known in Victoria as the Angry Victorians Party, and both the state and federal parties remain registered at this time.

Russell confirmed to 6 News he disbanded his party on 29 and 30 June.

It comes as his defamation case against the ABC heads for trial after a judge allowed the broadcaster to reinstate a public interest defence.

Russell is suing the ABC, claiming a report implied he was involved in the death of an Afghan prisoner while he was a commando in Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, the ABC indicated it would drop its public interest defence after a court order required them to hand over documents which included the un-redacted identity of a US marine.

But the judge now says Russell's lawyers appeared to no longer need the name of the source and the defence can be reinstated.

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