Alan Jones considers appeal over $3.75m payout to Wagner brothers

Alan Jones and his radio station considering appeal against record $3.75m defamation payout to Toowoomba’s Wagner brothers.

Alan Jones. Picture: AAP.

An appeal against a record $3.75 million defamation payout is being considered by Alan Jones and his radio station, after they were found to have defamed Toowoomba’s Wagner brothers.

In a statement, 2GB said it was “disappointed by the decision today of the Supreme Court in Queensland”.

“2GB, 4BC and Mr Jones will be considering carefully their appeal options,” it said. “As injunctions now restrain them, nothing further can be said at this time.”

Jones said he would “need to read the entire judgment very carefully”.

“I do feel that I have somehow let down the people of the Lockyer Valley who sought my assistance,” Jones said. “As the judge found in this case, I sought to ventilate concerns expressed to me by those people.

“I am restrained in what I can say because I am now subject to injunctions and will be making no further comment.”

Earlier today Jones and radio stations 2GB and 4BC was found to have defamed brothers John, Denis, Neill and Joe Wagner in comments made in 2014 and 2015, the Supreme Court in Brisbane ruled this morning.

“Mr Jones, for whose conduct 2GB and 4BC are vicariously liable, engaged in unjustifiable conduct and was motivated by a desire to injure the plaintiffs’ reputation,” Justice Peter Flanagan said this morning

Justice Flanagan said the Wagner brothers had enjoyed “an excellent reputation for honesty and integrity”.

“The publication of the matters complained of was very extensive,” he said in his judgment. “As to Mr Jones and 2GB, it involved 27 broadcasts which aired over an extended period between 28 October 2014 and 20 August 2015.

“The 76 imputations conveyed by these 27 broadcasts are extremely serious and of the gravest kind. The defamatory broadcasts have caused each of the plaintiffs to suffer profound personal hurt.”

Outside court, Denis Wagner said he did not expect Jones, who did not attend court this morning, to apologise.

“The judgement … clearly stated that comments made by Alan Jones were defamatory and untrue,” Mr Wagner said. “Our family and us as individuals faced vilification from Mr Jones since 2011 until we commenced this action. Mr Jones’ malicious attacks on our character and that of our family were unrelenting.

“The comments by Alan Jones have been described by the judge as unjustifiable.”

The $3.4m in damages, along with almost $355,000 in interest, fell short of the $4.8m that had been sought in the suit, launched over 32 broadcasts in 2014 and 2015.

Of that total amount, Jones and 2GB were ordered to pay $828,103 to each brother, including interest. Jones and 4BC were also ordered to pay $110,643.84 to each.

They are prevented under the ruling from publishing any of the matters complained of.

The Wagners’ claim against journalist Nick Cater – named a defendant over one of the broadcasts – was dismissed by Justice Flanagan.

Jones had relied on the truth defence for most of the broadcasts during the seven-week trial that began in April, dropping a defence of honest opinion on the final day of oral submissions in June.

Justice Flanagan ruled the Wagner brothers were defamed by imputations that a “bund” – a wall of dirt – at a quarry they owned caused the deaths of 12 people in the 2011 Grantham floods.

They were also defamed by comments about their Wellcamp airport, built outside of Toowoomba, and false allegations that they engaged in cover-ups.

Justice Flanagan said Jones had engaged in unjustifiable conduct and was motivated by a desire to injure the Wagners’ reputations.

Mr Wagner said the action was not driven by the massive payout the brothers received.

“I think the payout is very reflective of how Justice Flanagan considered the defamatory comments… he said in his judgement that they were unjustifiable and untrue,” Mr Wagner said.

He said he was happy the case was over and “we hope that’s the end of it”.

The judgement sets a new record for defamation payouts.

Prior to this morning’s judgement, the country’s biggest defamation payout was awarded last December to Perth barrister Lloyd Rainey after he was wrongly named by WA police as the prime suspect in the 2007 murder of his wife, Corryn Rayney. He received $2.6 million in a decision that is now under appeal.

The record award of $4.6 million award to actor Rebel Wilson, who was defamed by publisher Bauer Media in a series of 2015 articles that claimed she had lied about her age and other personal details, did not withstand legal challenge and was slashed to $600,000.

Snapshot of Jones defamation trial:

The plaintiffs’ case:

The Wagners’ lawyer Tom Blackburn claimed his clients were depicted as “cruel, selfish and lawless people (who) pursued their goals through corruption, cronyism, intimidation and criminality” in unparalleled attacks by Jones.

- John, Denis, Neill and Joe Wagner also allege they were accused of a high- level cover-up with politicians relating to their Wellcamp Airport.

- Denis Wagner labelled Jones’ broadcasts “gut-wrenching” and incredibly harmful to their reputations, while Neil Wagner claimed he thought Jones was “going mad” after hearing his accusations.

- Jones admitted not having any scientific evidence to back up his claim the 12 people were killed due to the collapse of a quarry wall.

- Journalist Nick Cater was accused of omitting evidence possibly contradicting his “narrative” about the Wagners’ alleged blame.

The defence:

- Jones’ lawyer Robert Anderson attempted to position the Wagner family as greedy by highlighting the $4.8 million claim is more than the major defamation payouts awarded to WA barrister Lloyd Rayney and actress Rebel Wilson.

- Jones admitted he subjected the Wagners to savage criticisms, but denied calling them murderers. He said he and his team always took “reasonable steps” to be accurate - Jones maintained the Wagners could have bribed Qantas over the airline’s decision to fly into Wellcamp Airport, but denied he had a bitter hatred for them.

- On the final day of submissions, Mr Anderson dropped the honest opinion defence and admitted some claims Jones made about the Wagner family were indefensible.

The judgment

- Justice Peter Flanagan on Wednesday ordered Jones and his team to pay a record $3.7 million in compensation for defaming the Wagners.

- Justice Flanagan dismissed the complaint against Cater.

- In his judgment Justice Flanagan described the defamatory comments as “extremely serious and of the gravest kind”.

- He said the Wagners had suffered “profound personal hurt and harm to their reputations” through the comments.