Speaking in an interview with ABC radio, Melissa Dinnison said she wanted to hold Mr Leak accountable for his cartoon, which she described as “horrible and degrading”, but when she realised he “wasn’t interested in cooperating” it didn’t make sense to proceed with the complaint.

“I sent the human rights commission sort of a list of things, or outcomes I’d like from this process, which mostly included talking to Bill Leak and having him listen to how these sort of cartoons impact real everyday Aboriginal people who are trying their best to contribute to society,” she said.

“I didn’t ask for any compensation, I didn’t allude to wanting to take this to court at all, I really just wanted to have a frank and open discussion him.

“I think that the conciliation process is supposed to be confidential and private and I think it’s like 76 per cent of the time they are resolved through conciliation and all of the media attention that this has received has been through a newspaper that he works for, so I feel like a lot of the attention that this has got is a direct result of him kind of putting it out there, so no I don’t feel for him at all.”

Ms Dinnison, from Parklands but who is now understood to be living in Germany, lodged a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) after The Australian newspaper published a cartoon by Mr Leak depicting an Aboriginal policeman handing an Aboriginal child back to his father who couldn’t recall his name.

The newspaper was notified on Friday the allegations had been dropped by Ms Dinnison.

Editor-in-chief of The Australian Paul Whittaker said the newspaper had been prepared to engage in a conciliation process with Ms Dinnison.

“But we wanted first to know that the commission was properly doing its job in identifying whether she even had a legitimate cause of action,” he said.

“The Australian’s reporting of the conduct of the commission in the QUT case, and in other cases, has led us to a firm view that the commission is an incompetent and biased administrator of these sorts of complaints.”

Mr Leak said it was extraordinary Ms Dinnison could initiate an investigation under the racial discrimination legislation and then drop it with no consequences.

“This woman, I believe, has very flippantly and recklessly lodged a complaint with the ARHC,” Mr Leak told The Weekend Australian.

“It shows what a farcical process this is. I’ve got News Corp backing me legally. But if I was a private citizen, this would have cost me an absolute fortune.

“She has put me through a month or so of incredible stress.

“She never met me, she doesn’t have to justify anything she does. No one asked her any questions and it doesn’t cost her a cent.

“As a consequence my life has been thrown into utter chaos. And at [a] time when it just happens to suit her, she just decides this could turn into a bit of a hassle, so she can withdraw it.”

Canning MP Andrew Hastie, who had been campaigning to overhaul the legislation which allows individuals to seek compensation if they have been offended on the basis of race, said Mr Leak’s case was further evidence the law should be examined by a parliamentary inquiry.

“This law has created a hush-money racket whereby complainants can extort compensation from people they disagree with,” he said.

“Anyone can get online and lodge a complaint and it costs them nothing.

“But the lives of those accused are turned inside out with the emotional and financial stress of an investigation and court case. Sometimes it's easier to settle with their accusers.

“Then when the investigative media shines a light into the darker corners of the operation, the complainants seem to lose their nerve – proving that we need reform.”

Attempts to contact Ms Dinnison have been unsuccessful, but her father Bevan Dinnison said on November 8: “Have you seen the cartoon? That’s what you should be writing about, not Melissa”.

There is no suggestion Ms Dinnison was seeking compensation over her complaint.

Mandurah Mail