Rand miner Billis to chase troll for $700k
Reclusive miner Anton Billis says he will pursue an online troll into bankruptcy after winning a defamation payout.
The reclusive head of ASX-listed goldminers Rand Mining and Tribune Resources has broken his long-held public silence to declare he will pursue an online troll into bankruptcy after winning a record-breaking $700,000 defamation payout.
Anton Billis, whose aversion to the public eye has long added an air of mystery to Rand and Tribune, was one of three Perth businessmen to share in the payout after a decision in Western Australia’s Supreme Court last week.
In a statement to The Australian, he described the aggressive online campaign against him by twice-bankrupted former policeman Terence McLernon as “dastardly” and “blatantly untrue” and said the claims had adversely affected his business and financial affairs.
“Mr McLernon’s defamatory behaviour was a malicious, sustained and relentless campaign to do me damage and also to many other respected businessmen who operate in Perth,” he said.
“I am not fussed about casual adverse comments about me from time to time but McLernon started his malicious campaign of defamation some 13 years ago which has been relentless throughout this period ... I wanted to ensure that the judiciary got an opportunity to send out a very strong message to all those who think that it is okay to maliciously defame anyone on the internet.”
Affidavit material filed by Mr Billis during the trial revealed that the website postings by Mr McLernon — which included a host of untrue claims about Mr Billis’s conduct, including allegations he was part of an organised crime gang and was involved in the firebombing of Mr McLernon’s house and car — had led to a hike in the interest rate offered to Rand and Tribune.
In 2004, before Mr McLernon’s websites went live, Rand and Tribune had been offered a “very low interest rate” on a $10 million loan from BankWest. But the rate was lifted following the publication of Mr McLernon’s attacks, with BankWest citing the “risk caused by negative publicity”.
Supreme Court judge Kenneth Martin found that Mr McLernon “always knew” his allegations about Mr Billis and fellow Perth businessmen Oliver Douglas and Paul Matich were false, and slammed him for “dispensing liberal amounts of poison over the internet”.
Mr Billis said he would be surprised if Mr McLernon had the ability to pay any of the damages owing to him and his fellow plaintiffs, but vowed to go after him.
“I will be instructing our solicitors to pursue Mr McLernon utilising all the insolvency laws at their disposal,” he said.
“I have been advised that is not impossible for someone to be bankrupted three times albeit it would be some sort of a record.”
Tindall Gask Bentley senior associate Samuel Joyce, who acted for the businessmen, described the judgment as a significant blow to online trolls. “This judgment serves as strong warning to anyone who thinks they are able to post defamatory material just because they have nothing to lose financially because they have no assets,” Mr Joyce said.
