A judge in the ongoing defamation battle between billionaire Clive Palmer and West Australian Premier Mark McGowan has warned court is “not a game” as he allowed the re-examination of a key witness.
It was revealed last week WA Attorney-General John Quigley wanted to correct “mistakes” he had made in his oral testimony in NSW on March 9.
Mr McGowan’s barrister, Bret Walker, suggested Mr Quigley should be re-examined, but Mr Palmer’s legal counsel, Barry Dean, said Mr Quigley was effectively asking for a “do-over” and described him as an unreliable witness.
On Monday, Justice Michael Lee ruled Mr McGowan’s legal team should be granted leave to re-examine Mr Quigley, notwithstanding he was excused as a witness.
“The court is not engaged in some sort of game,” he said.
“If the current state of the evidence needs to be clarified to give a complete impression, then such clarification should be allowed, a fortiori if the current state of the evidence represents a distortion, or incomplete account of the truth as Mr Quigley is able to present it.”
Justice Lee said the fact Mr Quigley was excused as a witness should not stand in the way of receiving such evidence.
“But despite not being a game, it is an adversarial contest with rules, which reflect the accumulated experience of the common law,” he said.
“Counsel for Mr Palmer have made it plain that Mr Quigley is a witness whose credit is squarely in issue.
“The notion of a witness being cross-examined as to his credit and thereafter preparing an affidavit – on the basis of advice given by senior counsel retained by him – with the intention that this affidavit is then to be read in the trial, is as strange as it sounds.”
It was also revealed Mr Palmer had dropped another case he had brought against Mr McGowan, Mr Quigley and state solicitor Nick Egan.
WA solicitor-general Joshua Thompson argued the discontinuance should include the condition that Mr Palmer not be able to bring a similar case again in the future.
Justice Lee xjmtzywis yet to rule on that matter.
Mr Quigley’s testimony centred predominantly on the extraordinary legislation that was passed in 2020 to stop Mr Palmer from seeking up to $30bn in damages over a stalled mining project.
He repeatedly denied he was lying under oath, or that he had been deceitful and dishonourable in his dealings with Mr Palmer.
In an affidavit, Mr Quigley denied the existence of an alleged “attack plan” against Mr Palmer.
“I did not implement, orchestrate or participate in any plan to distress, provoke, insult or distract Mr Palmer, and I’m not aware of the existence of any such plan,” he said.
In private messages to the Premier, which have been read to the Court, Mr Quigley labelled Mr Palmer a “big fat liar” and said he was “looking forward to dumping on Palmer in statesman-like way”.
In one text message exchange, Mr Quigley referred to Mr Palmer as “the turd” and wrote: “I’ve been awake since 4.15am thinking of ways to beat big, fat Clive.”
Mr Quigley also referred to a “Trojan horse in which there will be a poison pill for the fat man”.
In another message, Mr Quigley said: “Hey, are you glad me single again – not making love in the sweet hours before dawn, instead worrying how to defeat Clive.”
The case will return to court next month.
