Clive Palmer versus Mark McGowan defamation trial decision looms
A judge is finally set to hand down his findings in the defamation trial between billionaire Clive Palmer and WA Premier Mark McGowan.
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Clive Palmer said his feelings were hurt when Mark McGowan described him as an “enemy” of Western Australia, while the Premier claimed the billionaire contributed to people issuing death threats against him and his family.
Both men traded multiple verbal barbs at each other publicly, with Mr McGowan saying at one point that WA was at “war” with Mr Palmer and the mining magnate describing the Premier as a “liar”.
The back and forth eventually led to them accusing each other of defamation, then during the trial in the Federal Court in NSW they each elaborated on their claims.
The trial heard evidence about Mr Palmer’s legal fight over the WA hard border, the Queenslander’s stalled iron ore project, arbitration between the parties, and the extraordinary legislation that was passed to block his ability to claim almost $30bn in damages.
On Tuesday, Justice Michael Lee will finally deliver his judgment in the case.
Both parties testified during the trial, with Mr Palmer staying on his yacht while he was in Sydney, and Mr McGowan forced to travel from WA to be there in person, then went into quarantine upon his return home even though it was no longer a requirement.
WA Attorney-General John Quigley also travelled to Sydney to testify in person, with he too accused of defaming Mr Palmer.
The billionaire testified he believed a law passed in WA gave Mr McGowan power to murder him with impunity.
“That was my analysis – that the scope was wide open and I acknowledge that murder was an extreme,” he told the court.
Mr Palmer even likened the situation to a James Bond film and Nazi Germany.
“I was a bit frightened, what they might to do me or my family … they could really do anything to me,” he said.
“I then thought about James Bond movies … how would you licence someone to kill? I didn’t know what the limits might be.
“I did think about … what happened in Nazi Germany and how that legislation was framed … I guess I was racing all over the place because I didn’t know a rational explanation for this.”
Meanwhile, the Premier said he was “extremely angry” when Mr Palmer suggested he was corrupt and trying to provide an exemption for himself from the criminal law to commit crimes.
“That cuts to the core of what you’re about when you’re in public life … you have a duty to all of the people of the state,” Mr McGowan said.
“To suggest that somehow I would pass laws, which corruptly allow me an exemption from the criminal law to commit whatever crimes … is a deep wrong against my character.”
Mr McGowan said he was trying to protect the state from some of Mr Palmer’s actions, which he said would have caused “massive, massive pain” for WA if he had been successful.
The Premier testified Mr Palmer’s “crazed language and behaviour” gave people licence to issue death threats against him and his family, including sending white powder to his wife and threatening to behead his children.
He said the businessman had “promoted or contributed” to some people’s criminal behaviour aimed at him during the pandemic.
“(He) arouses this anger and this madness in our community that contributes – I don’t say it’s all him – but he contributes to these sorts of behaviours that I’ve never in my lifetime seen before,” Mr McGowan said.
“I now have, outside my home, a police car parked 24 hours a day, I have police that accompany me virtually anywhere I go.
“My entire family is under threat because of all this madness that people like Mr Palmer stir up that results in me having to close my electoral office because my staff are under threat.
“This sort of crazed language and behaviour promotes and gives some people licence in order to let loose the darker angels of their nature to hold someone, namely me and therefore my family, responsible for whatever conspiracy they then get into their heads.
“This sort of stuff that he does is false, it’s offensive and it causes and contributes to great pain to me and my family.”
Mr McGowan said he felt angry, offended, upset and exasperated at having to continually deal with untrue statements made by Mr Palmer.
The Premier said Mr Palmer had a reputation of being a very litigious man, describing it as a hobby and noting there had been 10 legal actions brought against him and his government.
He also testified about advertisements where Mr Palmer allegedly linked him to dictators in China, North Korea and Nazi Germany.
“It is an ongoing campaign to denigrate my character and to undermine what I do,” Mr McGowan said.
“To suggest … (I’m) comparable to some of the worst dictators in history – murderous mass murderers – and a set of advertisements … that suggests that I’m corrupt, akin to a dictator, someone who can undermine the criminal law and commit whatever sort of crime I want to do whenever I feel like it, literally kill people … are just simply outrageous, outrageous slurs on my character.
“How does it make me feel? It makes me feel angry and quite exasperated, and frustrated, hurt (and) unhappy because it was an ongoing campaign that continues, by the way, that does not let up.”
Mr Quigley testified twice, returning to the stand to say a “memory failure” caused him to make mistakes in his initial oral evidence.
The Attorney-General was involved in crafting the unprecedented legislation in 2020 which blocked Mr Palmer from suing the state for up to $30bn in damages over a stalled iron ore project.
Mr Quigley, 73, initially testified he first became aware on August 12, 2020 about the risk of the arbitration award being registered, but later admitted it was before the cabinet meeting on August 11.
He said there were “a lot of moving parts” and he could not recall exactly when he learnt about it.
“When one has a memory failure, it’s really hard,” he told the court.
“The best explanation I can give is that I was under a lot of pressure.”
Mr Palmer’s legal team tried to get all of Mr Quigley’s testimony ruled out, arguing he was seeking to reconstruct his own evidence.
But Justice Lee allowed the testimony, saying he would not be “misled or confused” by any contradictions.
Private text messages between the Premier and Mr Quigley were also revealed during the trial.
In one message, Mr McGowan described the businessman as the “worst Australian who’s not in jail”.
“I suspect there are worse Australians out there who are not in jail and I was probably exaggerating a little bit,” Mr McGowan testified.
“I don’t have a high opinion of him and I don’t like him.”
The court was also told Mr Quigley referred to Mr Palmer as “BFL”, which stood for “big, fat liar”.
“Get between the BFL and a stack of money, and anything goes,” Mr Quigley said in one text.
“Just tell the BFL that Q is not going to fold to intimidation.”
Mr McGowan replied: “BFL – brilliant.”
The Premier said he had “a lot of familiarity” with the children’s book Big Friendly Giant because he had read it to his children, so he found the BFL reference to be “somewhat amusing”.
In another text message exchange, Mr Quigley referred to Mr Palmer as “the turd” and wrote: “I’ve been awake since 4.15am thinking of ways to beat big, fat Clive.”
Mr Quigley also referred to a “Trojan horse in which there will be a poison pill for the fat man.”
In another message, Mr Quigley said: “Hey, are you glad me single again – not making love in the sweet hours before dawn, instead worrying how to defeat Clive.”
Originally published as Clive Palmer versus Mark McGowan defamation trial decision looms
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