Judge blasts McGowan, Palmer for wasting court time after defamation case ends in draw
A Federal Court judge has delivered a stinging dressing down of billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer and West Australian Premier Mark McGowan for wasting the court’s time and resources in a lengthy defamation case that resulted in just $25,000 in damages being awarded.
Federal Court Justice Michael Lee found the pair did defame each other during a war of words in July and August 2020 over WA’s hard border and the state’s decision to introduce extraordinary legislation to block a $30 billion damages claim by Palmer over a stalled iron ore project.
But in handing down his verdict in Melbourne on Tuesday Lee said the case had involved considerable expenditure by Palmer and WA taxpayers, but diverted resources away from “real” Federal Court proceedings.
“The game has not been worth the candle,” he said.
“These proceedings have not only involved considerable expenditure by Mr Palmer and the taxpayers of Western Australia, but have also consumed considerable resources of the Commonwealth.
“At a time when public resources devoted to courts are under strain, and judicial resources are stretched, one might think that only a significant interference or attack causing real reputational damage and significant hurt to feelings should be subject of an action for defamation by a political figure.”
Lee said neither party’s defences against the defamation allegations were able to be proven to a satisfactory level but said it was unlikely anyone’s reputation had been damaged because they were both political figures with baked-in reputations.