A former Labor MP and her husband accused of blackmailing the South Australian Premier have been granted permission to travel interstate less than a year after a magistrate knocked back the request.
Annabel and Greg Digance are accused of blackmailing Peter Malinauskas for political advantage in 2020, allegedly threatening to make allegations of misconduct public.
The Strathalbyn couple has pleaded not guilty and will stand trial in the District Court next year.
Their lawyers unsuccessfully sought to get the case thrown out last year, arguing there was no case to answer because the law excluded negotiations to secure a political benefit.
The couple was arrested in April last year, and released on bail on the condition they had no contact with Mr Malinauskas and did not travel outside the state.
Mr and Mrs Digance today applied to the District Court to vary their bail conditions to travel interstate for work and to visit family.
Chief Judge Michael Evans allowed the variation, on the condition the couple notify the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in writing prior to leaving the state on each occasion about where they were going and how long they would be away.
They will be further required to report in person to the Mount Barker police station within 48 hours of their return.
The prosecution did not oppose the variation with those conditions.
Call for more lenient conditions
But Mr Digance — who was self-represented — asked Chief Judge Evans if he could just email the DPP that he had returned to South Australia, rather than going to the police station.
"Mount Barker is 25 kilometres away," Mr Digance told the court.
But the prosecutor told the court it was the "usual course" that defendants reported to a police station, and it should be a condition.
"I think that's reasonable, Mr Digance," Chief Judge Evans said.
"It's an unusual condition to allow you to leave the state; the only condition on that is you email the DPP before you leave, tell them how long you're going to be, when you leave, when you're returning and where you're going and then just report to the police station."
The guarantor for Mr and Mrs Digance's bail agreement will have to agree to and sign the bail amendment before the couple will be allowed to travel.
Last year, Chief Magistrate Judge Mary-Louise Hribal rejected a similar request.
The Adelaide Magistrates Court then heard Mr Digance owned and operated a hydraulics company and was "loath" to come to court every time he needed to travel interstate for business.
At the time, Queensland, NSW and Victoria — where Mr Digance sought to travel — were experiencing lockdowns.
The court also heard Ms Digance needed to travel with her husband as she also worked for the company.
Judge Hribal knocked back the application last year to freely travel interstate due to the nature of the charges and that it was not "onerous" to seek permission through the court.
The couple will stand trial in May next year.
Outside court, Ms Digance thanked reporters for their interest in the case, but said there was nothing she could say.
The Digances received 1,359 votes at the March state election, only beating an ungrouped candidate.
