Alan Jones ‘out of control’ on air: Campbell Newman

A $10m defamation action against Alan Jones has prompted Campbell Newman to invite support to restart his own case.

Former Queensland premier Campbell Newman says ‘Alan Jones’s claims against us were totally untrue and they were, in my view, highly defamatory’. Picture: Scott Fletcher

The launch against Macquarie Radio’s Alan Jones of one of the largest defamation actions in Queensland history has prompted former premier Campbell Newman to invite public support to restart his own legal case against the broadcaster.

Mr Newman said yesterday he regretted being persuaded by Liberal National Party leader Bruce McIver to drop defamation proceedings issued during January’s state election campaign.

After the change of government, outgoing deputy premier Jeff Seeney and outgoing treasurer Tim Nicholls dropped their taxpayer-funded actions in which they claimed Jones had said they were corrupt.

Yesterday, Mr Newman said he strongly supported the wealthy Wag­­ner family in its $10 million case, lodged in Queensland’s Supreme Court on Wednesday, against four defendants: Jones, his employer Harbour Radio, Brisbane radio station 4BC and Nick Cater, the head of the Menzies Research Centre and a columnist for The Australian.

“I would urge the Wagners to explore every legal avenue, examine every comment (Jones) made about them, every statement on every program, and take this as far as they can,’’ he said.

“They have been greatly injured, as have I, but at least I can get some comfort and a sense of vindication if the Wagners can have a win.

“Alan Jones’s claims against us were totally untrue and they were, in my view, highly defamatory. He did not want to deal with facts or the truth — whether it was the Acland mine, coal-seam gas, the Wagners, their airport, or the quarry at Grantham — because he wanted to prosecute an agenda.

“I believe that he should still be made to make a public apology and a retraction.

“He should also be apologising to the people of Queensland who listened to his show — and sadly trust him — for misleading them about me and the government ...

“If someone out there is as ­affronted by Alan Jones as I have been, and if they would like to front legal action that I could take, I would be delighted to sit down and accept the support to make accountable a guy who is out of control and not doing the right thing by Australians.”

Mr Newman said “ranting and raving” by Jones against him probably had not cost the LNP the election but he no doubt it had had an impact and made it difficult to communicate policies and messages.

“We were answering his wild and untrue allegations. After the election, I did consider going on with a privately funded defamation action but I took advice from leaders in the field, who said that because of the cost, it was not something they could recommend,” Mr Newman said.

“The best defence is truth. There was no truth in anything he was saying. He was vicious, irrational and personal without basis. Good friends interstate who listened to the broadcasts were appalled at what he was saying.”

Jones, who broadcasts around Australia from the Fairfax Media-controlled flagship station 2GB, said on air yesterday: “I note in the papers today, because I’ve got nothing else, that the Wagners have sued me and others for defamation, reportedly over the Grantham affair and the Toowoomba Airport.

“I can’t say much because I haven’t seen any of these papers at all, but what I can say is that, consistent with everything I do on this program, I believe that at all times that I was speaking in the public interest, articulating the concerns of those who have no one to speak for them. And beyond that, I can’t and won’t be commenting.”

The $10m action launched by Toowoomba-based Wagner family members Denis, John, Neill and Joe follows broadcasts in which Jones accused them of serious crimes including conspiracy, corruption and a cover-up after causing the deaths of 12 people who died in Grantham’s floods.

A royal commission-style inquiry this month found the Wagners and their quarry had no adverse effect on the natural flood in the town west of Brisbane.