Premiership star Dusty Martin’s manager sued over tweet
Dusty Martin’s manager faces a legal battle over a social media post in which he levelled allegations against the Andrews government.
The celebrity manager of star Richmond player Dusty Martin claims an allegedly defamatory social media post about “corruption” in the Andrews government’s hotel quarantine program is his honest opinion.
Former Victorian Labor Party vice president Henry Pinskier is suing Ralph Carr over posts the manager and entrepreneur made on Twitter and LinkedIn in September last year.
The celebrity agent is claiming the tweet is “honest opinion” but lawyers for Dr Pinskier argued that argument should be struck out at a hearing in Victoria’s Supreme Court on Thursday.
Lawyer David Gilbertson QC said it wasn’t clear to the reader about what was said in the state’s parliament during a debate in September 2020.
“They don’t meet the touchstone which is enabling the reader to form their own view about whether the opinion expressed is well-founded or not,” he said.
A reader would have to go to the Hansard to work out whether they agreed and would then find the claim about the contract was false, Mr Gilbertson said.
On Twitter, Mr Carr allegedly posted a screenshot of a comment made by user @RohanCT which read:
“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.”
Using the handle @RalphCarrRCM, it’s alleged the entrepreneur and manager added “This Pinskier guy also got the face recognition contract in Victoria … Andrews corruption at its best”.
The tweet was removed on July 5 this year, the court was told.
However, the manager’s lawyer, Marcus Clarke QC, told the court the tweet was an opinion.
“That is the opinion, ‘Andrews corruption at its best’. Nothing could be simpler,” Mr Clarke said.
Mr Carr retweeted the proper material, referred to the parliamentary debates and a hotel quarantine contract, although it was the wrong one, Mr Clarke said.
“We can’t simply cherry pick and just simply look in a vacuum at the opinion, the one line, two line opinion he’s expressed,” he said.
It was important to look at the context of the tweet, he said.
The tweet allegedly defamed Dr Pinskier because it implied he “was responsible for the COVID-19 outbreak from hotel quarantine in Victoria, and thereby caused the second wave of COVID-19” in the state, according to the writ.
It could also be understood to mean the doctor “acted improperly in obtaining the hotel security contract for hotel quarantine in Victoria in that he used his influence in the Labor Party and his daughter’s employment with the Premier”, the writ states.
It is also alleged Mr Carr made similar claims in a LinkedIn post where he posted a screenshot of the same tweet.
Dr Pinskier is the co-owner of Medi7, along with his brother Nathan, which was awarded contracts to provide medical services during the first month of the hotel quarantine program.
Justice John Efthim will hand down his decision at a later date.