Billionaire businessman Clive Palmer has been ordered to pay part of the costs incurred by WA Premier Mark McGowan during a defamation case after rejecting an offer to settle the proceedings.
Key points:
- Mark McGowan had urged Clive Palmer to settle and avoid further costs
- The daily cost of the Premier's lawyer exceeds his payout, it has emerged
- Justice Michael Lee awarded partial costs to Mr McGowan
Federal Court Justice Michael Lee ordered the costs incurred by Mr McGowan in counter-suing Mr Palmer for defamation be paid by the businessman from December 22 last year, two days after the Premier tried to end the litigation by proposing a settlement.
Mr McGowan suggested both sides walk away at that point, with each to bear their own costs, thereby avoiding further expense.
But the offer was rejected by Mr Palmer and the case proceeded, with the court finding both sides defamed each another in a scathing judgement handed down last week.
Mr McGowan was last week ordered to pay damages of $5,000 to Mr Palmer, while Mr Palmer was instructed to pay Mr McGowan $20,000.
On Thursday Justice Lee reiterated the litigation was a waste of the court's time and resources, and ending it in December would have been the best option.
“When the offer was eventually made, it was sensible, and if acted upon, would have saved a great deal of time, money and effort," Justice Lee said.
Shakespearean feud
He reiterated comments in last week's judgement that Mr McGowan's actions in returning fire and suing Mr Palmer were "defensive" and would not have happened if the mining magnate did not sue first.
But Justice Lee said he would not order Mr Palmer to pay all of the Premier's costs in the case.
"Mainly because of the mixed ultimate result, but also because Mr McGowan increased costs by running a number of points that were not exactly dripping in merit," he said.
Mr McGowan's case has been funded by WA taxpayers, but the Premier has been at pains to point out that Mr Palmer initiated the defamation action.
In his judgement, Justice Lee compared the case to the feud between the Montagues and Capulets in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
"Some might consider there is merit in saying a 'plague on both your houses', and making no order as to costs," he said.
"But this result would not reflect the reality that it was Mr Palmer who first picked up the cudgels and, even more importantly, would give insufficient weight to their differing approaches to resolving the dispute.
"Both men went too far in their political jousting, and both men litigated, but only one was willing to draw back and avoid a long and costly hearing."
I refuse to be bullied: McGowan
Responding to the decision in Parliament shortly after it was handed down, Mr McGowan said it was "as good an outcome as we could have hoped for Western Australia out of a difficult situation".
The Premier said he believed Mr Palmer chose to sue him personally because of legislation that blocked the Queensland businessman's claim for $30 billion in damages over a mining development by his firm Mineralogy.
"By suing me personally, I believe he thought he could force my hand and allow a pathway for him to take WA for $30 billion or a portion of it and other concessions from the state of Western Australia," he said.
"But I was not going to give in. I refuse to be bullied by this man. I refuse to give in to Mr Palmer's demands."
Mr McGowan said he had "no option but to respond and stand up for Western Australia".
Waste of court resources
The defamation action was centred on their war of words over WA's closed border and a mining project of Mr Palmer's.
Justice Lee was damning in his criticism of both men for wasting the court's limited resources, telling the men: "The game has not been worth the candle."
Both chose to be part of the "hurly burly" of political life and should have expected the barbs that came along with it, he said.
The mining magnate was unhappy with the Premier's decision to close WA's border in April 2020, which he felt was disruptive to his business interests, and sought to have the closure overturned in court.
Over the course of a series of press conferences in 2020, during the early days of the pandemic, Mr McGowan called Mr Palmer an "enemy of the state" for his actions.
The mining magnate told the court this caused him to be brought into "hatred, ridicule and contempt", but Justice Lee found the damage to his reputation to be non-existent.
A serial litigant, Mr Palmer was observed in the witness box by the judge to have "carried himself with the unmistakable aura of a man assured as to the correctness of his own opinions".
'Outlaw swinging his gun'
The other part of the defamation claim related to a state agreement held by Mr Palmer's company Mineralogy for the Balmoral South iron ore project.
The development of the project was rejected by the then-Liberal government in 2012 under Colin Barnett, and Mr Palmer had sought $30 billion in damages for what he maintained was a breach of contract.
However, under Mr McGowan extraordinary legislation was passed preventing him from seeking compensation, prompting Mr Palmer to call the Premier "an outlaw swinging his gun around to protect him and his Attorney-General from the criminal law".
Mr McGowan said these and other comments suggested he had behaved corruptly, and prompted him to counter-sue Mr Palmer.
Opposition calls for transparency
Following the judgement, Opposition Leader Mia Davies called on the Premier to tell West Australians how much the case would cost taxpayers.
"There's no reason for the Premier not to be open and transparent with the people of Western Australia who will be footing the bill for this case," she said.
The Premier had previously said he would reveal those figures when he was able – something a spokesperson confirmed on Thursday.
"All relevant costs will be detailed and released as soon as possible," they said.
Justice Lee ordered that if the parties could not agree to costs they will be decided by a Federal Court Registrar.
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2022-08-11 08:08:02Z
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