Celebrity manager Ralph Carr in Supreme Court over Hotel Quarantine ‘corruption’ claims

Celebrity agent Ralph Carr, whose clients include Dustin Martin, has fronted court over ‘corruption’ claims he posted about Hotel Quarantine.

Ralph Carr is manager to the stars, including Richmond’s Dustin Martin. Pic: Michael Klein

Manager to the stars Ralph Carr says he was just expressing an honest opinion when he claimed ‘corruption’ over the awarding of tenders for Hotel Quarantine.

The agent of AFL powerhouse Dustin Martin is being sued for defamation by former Labor Party vice president Dr Henry Pinskier over online posts about his company being handed government contracts.

Mr Carr is claiming the defence of honest opinion over the saga, but Dr Pinskier’s lawyers want that argument struck out.

During an application hearing in the Supreme Court, Marcus Clarke QC, for Mr Carr, said his client’s social media comment, “Andrews corruption at its best”, made during a parliamentary debate on the awarding of contracts, was clearly opinion.

“Nothing could be simpler,” he said.

But Dr Pinskier’s lawyer David Gilbertson QC hit back, saying it was the first time he’d heard the claim that Mr Carr’s opinion centred around “Andrews corruption”, and that the defamation action was brought by Dr Pinskier, not Premier Daniel Andrews.

“Mr Andrews is not a party to this proceeding,” he said.

Carr, pictured in 2020, faced the Supreme Court on Thursday. Picture: Michael Klein

“The plaintiff shouldn’t be scrambling around trying to work out what the case he has to meet.”

He said Mr Carr’s comments posted online in September 2020 were “clearly allegations of fact, they’re not capable of being opinions”.

He called for the defence of honest opinion, contextual truth and innocent dissemination struck out.

The case revolves around two social media posts on September 22 last year.

Supreme Court documents show Mr Carr retweeted commentary from user @RohanCT that said: “Watching the Victorian debate in parliament. So it turns out Henry Pinskier’s company was awarded the hotel quarantine security tender without a formal tender. He is a factional member of the Macnamara ALP branch and his daughter works for Daniel Andrews.”

But Mr Carr, from his account @RalphCarrRCM, added: “This Pinskier guy also got the face recognition contract in Victoria … Andrews corruption at its best.”

Mr Carr also posted a screenshot of the tweet on LinkedIn, documents show.

Dr Pinskier claims he was defamed because the posts suggested he was responsible for the deadly Hotel Quarantine COVID-19 outbreak, and that he used his Labor Party influence and the fact his daughter worked with Premier Daniel Andrews to win contracts.

Dr Pinskier is a director of Medi7 Pty Ltd, which provided medical services to Hotel Quarantine.

He has also been the director of multiple hospitals and the Victorian Government’s health services insurer.

Justice John Efthim will hand down his decision on the strikeout application within weeks.

@ashargoon