A young mother and her three children who were allegedly living with Ezra Miller at the actor’s Vermont farm are reportedly missing.
Vermont State Police are looking for the 25-year-old woman and her kids — aged five, four and one — believing that the Flash star may be concealing their whereabouts, rolling stone reported Wednesday.
According to court documents obtained by the publication, officers say they attempted at least twice over the weekend to serve the mom an emergency care order requested by the State Attorney’s office, which demanded the youngsters’ removal from both the property and her care, the new york post reports.
But Miller allegedly told cops the family hadn’t lived there in months, which the State Attorney’s office said seemed like an attempt to “evade service” of the order.
rolling stone reports that it was during one of the authorities’ visits to the 96-acre Stamford estate to locate the family that Miller was charged with felony burglary for allegedly breaking into a house and stealing several bottles of alcohol back in May.
A local source told the magazine that several officers were at the Perks of Being a Wallflower star’s home Tuesday night for nearly an hour, though the reason was not made clear. When contacted by rolling stonea police spokesperson referred the outlet to the Vermont Department for Children and Families, who declined to comment due to confidentiality concerns.
The outlet also notes that the mother was posting daily on social media from the property until mid-July when her account went dark and appeared to be deleted.
Reps for Miller did not immediately respond to Page Six‘s request for comment.
The order was reportedly drafted for fear of the children’s safety, as Miller’s property is allegedly littered with firearms, ammunition and marijuana.
Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation, including the children’ father, made the accusations to rolling stone in an exposé published in June.
Two of the sources alleged that there were unattended guns strewn around the Fantastic Beasts star’s home, with video footage appearing to show weapons propped up next to stuffed animals.
One source added that the one-year-old once allegedly picked up a loose bullet and put it in her mouth.
Additionally, both sources alleged that there was frequent and heavy marijuana use in front of the children.
According to rolling stonethe woman moved herself and her children into Miller’s home in mid-April after having met in Hawaii the month prior.
She insisted to the publication in June that Miller provided “a safe environment for (her) three very young children.”
Having a “bad feeling in (his) stomach,” the dad contacted DCF services and local police in mid-May to conduct wellness checks on his kids.
A social worker allegedly visited Miller’s farm on May 16 and informed the father that his children “looked good” but felt they had “more work to do”, according to text messages reviewed by rolling stone.
This is the latest in a string of legal issues for the actor, who was arrested twice in Hawaii earlier this year — once for disorderly conduct, to which they pleaded no contest, and another time for allegedly throwing a chair at a woman. Miller — who goes by them/them pronouns — has also been accused of “grooming” a teenager and had a restraining order taken out against them by a woman and her 12-year-old child.
This article originally appeared in the New York Post and has been reproduced here with permission
WA Premier Mark McGowan tried to put an end to defamation proceedings with Queensland businessman Clive Palmer in December last year, but Mr Palmer rejected his offer, the Federal Court has heard.
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 will deliver his costs decision in court later today
Shortly before Christmas, Mr McGowan made an offer for both sides to drop their proceedings and walk away, 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 other in a scathing judgment handed down last week.
Lawyers for both sides appeared in the Federal Court this morning to argue over costs, with Justice Michael Lee due to deliver his decision later today.
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.
Daily lawyer costs highlighted
During this morning’s arguments, Justice Lee remarked that even the daily cost of Mr McGowan’s barrister, Bret Walker SC, was higher than the damages awarded.
“It’s an interesting state of your career you reach when your daily fee exceeds the award of damages,” he said.
WA’s hard border sparked the bitter feud between Mr Palmer and Mr McGowan.(Facebook: Clive Palmer, Mark McGowan)
Mr Walker’s response was met with laughter in the courtroom.
“I’d hate for your honor to think this is the first time that’s happened,” 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.
Justice Lee said the rejected offer for both sides to walk away would be important in his decision.
Waste of court resources
The defamation action was centered 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.
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
Mark McGowan and Clive Palmer were slammed last week over the “wasteful” defamation trial.
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, ridiculous 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 million 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.
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the US Capitol has reportedly obtained text messages from far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones after his legal team accidentally sent two years of his phone records to attorneys in a defamation case against him .
CNN reported on Monday that the texts had been turned over by the lawyer who represented parents of a Sandy Hook school shooting victim, who were awarded $45.2 million in punitive damages in their civil trial against Jones.
Jones had pushed the conspiracy theory that the 2012 shooting that killed 20 children and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., was a hoax, and that the parents were “crisis actors.”
The Jan. 6 committee subpoenaed Jones in November of last year for his alleged role in planning and funding the events that transpired that day.
He appeared for a deposition, but said that he invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent “almost 100 times.”
The committee has accused Jones and other right-wing figures of stoking the rioters leading up to and during the Capitol breach, as well as peddling former President Trump’s false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
Jones breached the restricted area on the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, though he didn’t go into the building.
The exact dates of Jones’s phone records aren’t yet clear, but the committee has expressed interest in what Jones may have said in texts leading up to the attacks.
A spokesperson for the Jan. 6 committee declined to comment on whether the texts had been received.
The Hill has also reached out to the Justice Department and the Sandy Hook parents’ attorney, Mark Bankston.
An Asian-Australian hairdresser has posted what she claims is one of hundreds of text messages from male clients asking her to perform sex acts on them.
Amy Tran, who owns the Walk In Barber Shop in Geraldton, Western Australia, said she’s fed up with customers who assume “Asians are mostly prostitutes”.
Since opening her shop two years ago, Ms Tran said she has been asked to provide lewd services such as “happy endings” almost every day so she’s decided to start publicly shaming those who overstep the mark.
“Enough is enough,” she told Daily Mail Australia.
“I can’t take it anymore.”
The hairdresser of 15 years posted screenshots of a text exchange with a male customer to the Facebook page “Geraldton Neighborhood Watch” in an apparent bid to detect others.
“I would like to book in for a shave and trim with a happy ending please text me a time and cash amount,” the man’s first message reads.
“What happy ending are you asking about?” Ms Tran replied, to which the customer responded: “Just nice rub to unload please!”
Ms Tran told the man: ‘I don’t do a happy ending! You have to stop this, ”and she threatened to report him to local police.
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In her post, Ms Tran pleaded with others not to mistake her hairdressing services with those of a sex worker.
“I am often looked down upon by others because I am Asian,” she wrote.
“Many people think that Asians are mostly prostitutes, so I am often texted or harassed by customers at the store.
“I believe there are many other women who have the same problem as me but the difference is that they don’t dare say to say it because they are shy or don’t want people to judge them.”
Ms Tran also included the man’s personal phone number.
“If anyone is a relative of the person with the phone number below I hope they will find out the true face of the husband and father they are living with,” she wrote.
She ended the post by saying she hoped others wouldn’t do things that “affect the work psychology, joy or vitality” of others.
“I am just a barber. Please respect. Barber only,” Ms Tran added.
Many residents of the mining town were quick to come to her defense with dozens of Facebook users condemning the “disgraceful” request.
“That is disgusting and no one should have to be subjected to such disgraceful and disrespectful behaviour,” one woman wrote.
One man slammed the customer as a “sad individual” and encouraged Ms Tran to “rise above” and leave it “along with the person who felt it in the gutter”.
“So sorry you have to deal with this revolting creep and others like him,” another wrote.
“Hold your head high and good on you for posting this sicko’s number.”
One woman said she had received the same request midway though a haircut and urged her fellow hairdresser to “stay safe”.
An Asian-Australian hairdresser has posted what she claims is one of hundreds of text messages from male clients asking her to perform sex acts on them.
Amy Tran, who owns the Walk In Barber Shop in Geraldton, Western Australia, said she’s fed up with customers who assume “Asians are mostly prostitutes”.
Since opening her shop two years ago, Ms Tran said she has been asked to provide lewd services such as “happy endings” almost every day so she’s decided to start publicly shaming those who overstep the mark.
“Enough is enough,” she told Daily Mail Australia.
“I can’t take it anymore.”
The hairdresser of 15 years posted screenshots of a text exchange with a male customer to the Facebook page “Geraldton Neighborhood Watch” in an apparent bid to detect others.
“I would like to book in for a shave and trim with a happy ending please text me a time and cash amount,” the man’s first message reads.
“What happy ending are you asking about?” Ms Tran replied, to which the customer responded: “Just nice rub to unload please!”
Ms Tran told the man: ‘I don’t do a happy ending! You have to stop this, ”and she threatened to report him to local police.
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In her post, Ms Tran pleaded with others not to mistake her hairdressing services with those of a sex worker.
“I am often looked down upon by others because I am Asian,” she wrote.
“Many people think that Asians are mostly prostitutes, so I am often texted or harassed by customers at the store.
“I believe there are many other women who have the same problem as me but the difference is that they don’t dare say to say it because they are shy or don’t want people to judge them.”
Ms Tran also included the man’s personal phone number.
“If anyone is a relative of the person with the phone number below I hope they will find out the true face of the husband and father they are living with,” she wrote.
She ended the post by saying she hoped others wouldn’t do things that “affect the work psychology, joy or vitality” of others.
“I am just a barber. Please respect. Barber only,” Ms Tran added.
Many residents of the mining town were quick to come to her defense with dozens of Facebook users condemning the “disgraceful” request.
“That is disgusting and no one should have to be subjected to such disgraceful and disrespectful behaviour,” one woman wrote.
One man slammed the customer as a “sad individual” and encouraged Ms Tran to “rise above” and leave it “along with the person who felt it in the gutter”.
“So sorry you have to deal with this revolting creep and others like him,” another wrote.
“Hold your head high and good on you for posting this sicko’s number.”
One woman said she had received the same request midway though a haircut and urged her fellow hairdresser to “stay safe”.
A telco company has been slapped with a $300,000 fine because it exposed nearly 2000 Australians to potential scammers.
Circles Australia Pty Limited, trading as Circles.Life, must pay a $199,800 infringement notice as well as $100,000 in compensation to fraud victims.
On Tuesday morning, the telco regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA), announced the hefty costs.
Circles.Life breached the rules for phone number transfers a whopping 1,787 times when it sold SIM cards in retail stores between August and December 2021, according to the regulator.
The phone company was found to have failed to properly check the identity of purchasers, which meant cyber criminals then “took advantage of these lapses”.
As a result, 42 consumers experienced “fraud-related issues” which included their email and bank accounts being breached.
Of those, at least seven lost money to scammers.
The costly penalty is part of the ACMA’s broader crackdown on the telco industry, after implementing sweeping changes last month to combat phone scams which are on the rise.
The phone company should have adhered to multi-factor identification rules, according to ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin.
“It is deeply concerning that Circles.Life did not have proper processes in place for such a long period and that so many people were affected or put at risk of identity theft and fraud,” she said.
“Combating these types of scams requires concerted action by all telcos and one weak link exposes all consumers to harm.
“It is the customers of other telcos who have fallen victim in this case by having their number transferred to Circles.Life without their knowledge.”
The ACMA also added that while the breaches should not have occurred, Circles.Life “responded quickly” when they realized the extent of the problem.
News.com.au has contacted Circles.Life for comment.
In a statement, the company said it had protocols in place for a one-time password verification for online port-ins, but the same rules didn’t apply for SIMs purchased at brick and mortar stores.
In April, the ACMA announced that phone companies will need stronger customer identity checks for “high-risk transactions” like SIM swaps, account changes or switching providers.
The new requirements, called the Telecommunications Service Provider (Customer Identity Authentication) Determination 2022, came into effect on June 30.
Since then, telcos must use multi-factor authentication of their customers’ identities such as confirming personal information and responding with a one-time code, similar to how banks operate. Before the changes, telcos mostly only required a customer’s name, phone number, date of birth and address to authorize a change.
The ACMA warned that noncompliance can lead to “strong action” including “pursuit of significant civil penalties” like in the case of Circles.Life and also potential Federal Court proceedings.
News.com.au has extensively reported on a particularly ominous phone scam known as a SIM swap hack in the past.
A SIM swap hack is when a cyber criminal ports – or re-routes – the victim’s mobile number onto their own phone, allowing them to intercept text messages and reset passwords to things like bank accounts.
In many cases, scammers were able to do so by impersonating the customer to their telco provider, then convincing the company to switch the SIM card over to an eSIM card.
Often the scammers will transfer the phone number to another provider to make it harder for victims to regain control of their account.
News.com.au reported on a Sydney man waking up to find $52,000 stolen from him by SIM hackers, while an Adelaide schoolteacher lost her entire life savings, $43,000, from a similar order.
Between 1 January and 30 September last year, there were at least 510 incidents of reported SIM swaps, resulting in 163 cases of financial loss, according to the ACMA.
These losses amounted to $4.68 million, with the largest single reported loss being $463,782.
Text messages exchanged between Greg Norman and Sergio Garcia in the lead-up to LIV Golf have emerged.
Golfers who joined Norman on the Saudi-backed LIV Tour face an indefinite ban from the PGA Tour, and a group led by Phil Mickelson is suing them for antitrust violations, claiming the Tour does not have the authority to levy that punishment. As part of that suit, the golfers presented text messages between Norman and Garcia, who joined the rebel tour in June.
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The text messages reveal Garcia was relaying the PGA Tour’s plans to execute the bans on golfers when the LIV defections occurred.
After sending brief pleasantries on February 11, Garcia got down to business, texting Norman: “I just wanted to see how things are going with the League, cause it seems like a lot of those guys that were loving it and excited about it last week , now are s***ting in their pants.”
Norman responded: “Morning. All going very well. I have not heard the white noise of s***ting their pants. Who are you referencing so I can run a check?”
Garcia answered that it was “some of the younger guys” and that he thought “the (PGA) Tour reached out to them and scared them a bit and because they are young, I think it worked”.
Norman was adamant that the PGA Tour did not have the legal standing to issue a ban.
“If you have names I can reach out to them,” he texted.
“In regards to the Tour if they were going to ban players they would have already. They know they cannot hence no action outside of verbal threats. If you can get them or any player threatened to get it (in writing) fantastic. Thanks.”
Six days after the initial exchange, Garcia informed Norman that the “Tour has told our managers this week that whoever signs with the League, is ban(ned) from the Tour for life! I don’t know how are we gonna get enough good players to join the League under (these) conditions. What do you think.”
Norman again assured Garcia that this would not be legally possible.
“They cannot ban you for one day let alone life,” Norman texted. “It is a shallow threat. Ask them to put it in writing to you or any player. I bet they don’t. Happy for anyone to speak with our legal team to better understand they have no chance of enforcing.
“Who said there would be a lifetime ban? And to whom? You? Or your agent? What are they saying specifically? Important to know these facts. Also I will get something to show you why they cannot.”
LIV Golf commissioner Greg Norman. Steve Dykes/Getty Images/AFPSource: AFP
Garcia explained his understanding of what had happened.
“The commissioner had a meeting with the 5 or 6 biggest agencies of golf managers, mine included, and first told them that if any of their players had signed with the (LIV) league, that they should leave the room and after that they talked about what the (PGA Tour) is going to do going forward and that whoever signs with (LIV) they would be (banned) from the (PGA Tour) for life. I would love to get it in writing but I doubt they will do that,” he wrote.
Garcia ultimately joined LIV Golf after an epic meltdown directed at the PGA Tour in May.
Star golfers who have reportedly earned over AU$143 million apiece from LIV Golf include Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.
This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission
Text messages exchanged between Greg Norman and Sergio Garcia in the lead-up to LIV Golf have emerged.
Golfers who joined Norman on the Saudi-backed LIV Tour face an indefinite ban from the PGA Tour, and a group led by Phil Mickelson is suing them for antitrust violations, claiming the Tour does not have the authority to levy that punishment. As part of that suit, the golfers presented text messages between Norman and Garcia, who joined the rebel tour in June.
Watch LIVE coverage from The USPGA Tour with Fox Sports on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
The text messages reveal Garcia was relaying the PGA Tour’s plans to execute the bans on golfers when the LIV defections occurred.
After sending brief pleasantries on February 11, Garcia got down to business, texting Norman: “I just wanted to see how things are going with the League, cause it seems like a lot of those guys that were loving it and excited about it last week , now are s***ting in their pants.”
Norman responded: “Morning. All going very well. I have not heard the white noise of s***ting their pants. Who are you referencing so I can run a check?”
Garcia answered that it was “some of the younger guys” and that he thought “the (PGA) Tour reached out to them and scared them a bit and because they are young, I think it worked”.
Norman was adamant that the PGA Tour did not have the legal standing to issue a ban.
“If you have names I can reach out to them,” he texted.
“In regards to the Tour if they were going to ban players they would have already. They know they cannot hence no action outside of verbal threats. If you can get them or any player threatened to get it (in writing) fantastic. Thanks.”
Six days after the initial exchange, Garcia informed Norman that the “Tour has told our managers this week that whoever signs with the League, is ban(ned) from the Tour for life! I don’t know how are we gonna get enough good players to join the League under (these) conditions. What do you think.”
Norman again assured Garcia that this would not be legally possible.
“They cannot ban you for one day let alone life,” Norman texted. “It is a shallow threat. Ask them to put it in writing to you or any player. I bet they don’t. Happy for anyone to speak with our legal team to better understand they have no chance of enforcing.
“Who said there would be a lifetime ban? And to whom? You? Or your agent? What are they saying specifically? Important to know these facts. Also I will get something to show you why they cannot.”
Garcia explained his understanding of what had happened.
“The commissioner had a meeting with the 5 or 6 biggest agencies of golf managers, mine included, and first told them that if any of their players had signed with the (LIV) league, that they should leave the room and after that they talked about what the (PGA Tour) is going to do going forward and that whoever signs with (LIV) they would be (banned) from the (PGA Tour) for life. I would love to get it in writing but I doubt they will do that,” he wrote.
Garcia ultimately joined LIV Golf after an epic meltdown directed at the PGA Tour in May.
Star golfers who have reportedly earned over AU$143 million apiece from LIV Golf include Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.
This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission
Ioan Gruffudd has reportedly been granted a three-year restraining order against estranged wife Alice Evans – amid claims she harassed him and his new girlfriend, Bianca Wallace, on social media.
“Ioan had no choice but to up his legal fight over Alice,” a source claimed to the Daily Mail in an article published Tuesday.
“She had become increasingly volatile and seemingly intent on destroying his career with her character assassination. He hopes this will put an end to it.”
Gruffudd, 48, was reportedly in attendance inside the Los Angeles court to witness the domestic violence restraining order granted, though Evans, 54, did not make an appearance.
According to the filing, Gruffudd claims Evans “has used her social media accounts to continue to harass, threaten, and disturb the peace of both me and my girlfriend, Bianca Wallace.”
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Gruffudd requested that Evans not be allowed to post any harassing messages about him or his girlfriend to social media or to share any text messages between the two of them, his girlfriend or their kids. He also asked that Evans not contact his employer of him.
the Fantastic Four actor filed for the restraining order in February, seeking to bar Evans from contacting or coming within 100 yards of him and Wallace.
Gruffudd alleged at the time that Evans “repeatedly told me between August 2020 and our separation on January 1, 2021, that if I left her, she would make false public accusations about me, sell false stories about me to the press and destroy me and my career.”
He also claimed that Evans threatened to tell people he had “abused her and her daughters” and that she would “call the police on [him]” if he did not comply with her demands, according to the petitions.
The filing adds that Evans allegedly “threatened to write a fake diary that reflected an abused victim, and to have the diary published; and … threatened to destroy [his] mother.”
Gruffudd further alleged that Evans harassed him on social media and made “hundreds of harassing, abusive and threatening communications by text, voice message, [and] video message” and even sent “threatening emails” to his mum, Margaret Griffiths.
Evans vehemently denied the claims, saying that his complaint was “a ploy to gain some sort of advantage over me in our divorce proceedings.”
Gruffudd, who married Evans in 2007, filed for divorce in March 2021 after Evans claimed via Twitter in January of that year that the actor had abandoned their family.
“My beloved husband/soulmate of 20 years… has announced he is to leave his family, starting next week. Me and our young daughters… are very confused and sad. We haven’t been given a reason except that he ‘no longer loves me,’” she said at the time.
Gruffudd and Wallace then went Instagram-official in October 2021. Months later, in January 2022, Evans posted a scathing message about Wallace on social media.
“She wants to put a stake in my heart. I’ve never seen such a lack of empathy,” Evans said.
In February, Evans asked the court to grant her custody over their two children: Ella, 12, and Elsie, 8. Gruffudd hit back, claiming that Evans would make fun of his “saggy vagina eyes” in front of their children.
This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission.
Mining tycoon Clive Palmer and WA Premier Mark McGowan defamed each other, the Federal Court has found, in a war of words over WA’s hard border and a damage claim for a failed mining project worth up to $30 billion.
Key points:
Both Clive Palmer and Mark McGowan were awarded damages
The case related to comments made after the closing of WA’s borders
Costs will be assessed at a later court hearing
Mr Palmer was awarded $5,000 while Mr McGowan won a counter-claim of $20,000, in a judgment handed down by Justice Michael Lee today.
Mr Palmer launched legal action against Mr McGowan after a series of comments made at press conferences in 2020, during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Queensland mining magnate told the Federal Court he was brought into “hatred, ridiculous and contempt” after Mr McGowan called him an “enemy of the state” over his challenge that sought to overturn WA’s hard border policy.
Mr McGowan counter-sued Mr Palmer over comments centered on legislation that prevented the Queensland businessman from claiming up to $30 billion in damages over a mining development by his firm Mineralogy.
Justice Lee said when assessing damages, he considered the fact much of the public would already have “well-entrenched perceptions” as to the character and reputations of political figures.
However, when deciding damages for Mr McGowan, Justice Lee said although the damage to his reputation was “non-existent”, “Mr McGowan’s evidence as to an aspect of the subjective hurt he suffered was compelling”.
In delivering his judgement, Justice Lee noted the significant costs incurred in prosecuting this case.
“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,” he said.
“Importantly (they have) diverted court time from resolving controversies of real importance to persons who have a pressing need to litigate.”
At a press conference, Mr McGowan said the last thing he wanted to be doing was fighting a defamation action, adding the start of the pandemic was a “highly anxious time”.
But he defended the steps he took in putting in place the hard border and mineralology legislation.
“I’ll go to my grave proud of what we did,” he said.
“I actually think it was one of the proudest moments, that and the hard border, in recent West Australian history.”
The court will reconvene at a later date to assess costs, which are expected to far outstrip the damages awarded.
McGowan, Palmer chose ‘hurly burly’ of political life
In his ruling, Justice Lee referred to conservative British MP Enoch Powell’s remark “for a politician to complain about the press is like a ship’s captain complaining about the sea”.
“As these proceedings demonstrate, a politician litigating over the barbs of a political adversary might be considered a similarly futile exercise,” Justice Lee said.
The judge said Mr McGowan and Mr Palmer chose to be part of the “hurly burly” of political life, despite Mr Palmer resisting characterization as a political figure.
He described Mr Palmer as an “indefatigable litigant”.
The public spat between mining magnate Clive Palmer (pictured) and Mark McGowan erupted at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.(ABC News: Steve Keen)
“This was evidently not his first experience in a witness box … he carried himself with the unmistakable aura of a man assured as to the correctness of his own opinions,” Justice Lee noted.
The judge described Mr Palmer as a generally “combative and evasive witness” who on more than one occasion was unwilling to make obvious concessions.
He also rubbished Mr Palmer’s claim he feared for his, his family’s and his employee’s safety and lives, after the Mineralogy legislation was passed.
“To even his most-rusted on partisans, Mr McGowan would be unlikely to have thought to resemble Ian Fleming’s fictional MI6 character James Bond,” Justice Lee said.
Justice Lee described Mr Palmer’s evidence that Mr McGowan had been given a “license to kill” as “fanciful”.
Feud erupts over WA hard border
The stoush began whenWA shut its border to the rest of the country in 2020, which Clive Palmer challenged in the High Court, drawing the ire of Mr McGowan.
The court heard Mr McGowan made comments about an alleged plan by Mr Palmer to promote the drug hydroxychloroquine, which in the early days of the pandemic was briefly touted as a potential treatment.
Mr Palmer brought the defamation action against Mr McGowan over his comments about the mining magnate’s attempt to enter the state in 2020.(Facebook: Clive Palmer, Mark McGowan)
After a series of trials, it became clear the drug was not effective.
Mr McGowan told a press conference in August 2020 that Mr Palmer was coming to “promote” hydroxychloroquine, when all the evidence showed it was not a cure and was in fact dangerous.
In the defamation proceedings, Mr Palmer argued this implied he sought to harm the people of Western Australia by providing them with a drug he knew was dangerous and dishonestly promoted it as a cure for COVID-19.
Justice Lee did not accept this, saying “it is too much of a stretch to say that vehement disagreement with Mr Palmer’s view conveys that Mr Palmer subjectively intended to cause harm or behaved dishonestly”.
Multi-billion dollar mining damages claim at heart of case
The defamation proceedings also examined a state agreement held by Mr Palmer’s company Mineralogy for the Balmoral South iron ore project.
Mr Palmer sought to develop that site in 2012 but was knocked back by the then-Barnett government, prompting him to launch legal action against the WA Government seeking damages for what he said was a breach of the state agreement.
The WA Government then passed extraordinary legislation that prevented Mr Palmer from succeeding in that claim, which was estimated at $30 billion, amounting to the state government’s 2020 annual budget.
Mr Palmer lashed out at Mr McGowan as the architect of that legislation.
Mark McGowan said Mr Palmer’s comments had aroused “anger and madness” in the community. (ABC News: Cecilia Connell)
The court heard in an August 2020 interview with ABC radio, Mr Palmer described Mr McGowan as “an outlaw swinging his gun around to protect him and his Attorney General from the criminal law”.
“What crime did you commit Mark, that you want to be immune from?”
Mr McGowan countered Mr Palmer on those and other comments, which he said suggested he had acted corruptly.
Palmer defamed McGowan for claiming he ‘lied’
Mr McGowan also argued Mr Palmer had defamed him when he claimed he had lied about the health advice he relied on when deciding to close the state’s border.
Justice Lee upheld that claim.
However, the judge said while Mr McGowan was generally an impressive witness, he “skirted” around the substantive question as to whether Dr Robertson, the Chief Health Officer, had given advice to this effect.
Justice Lee noted however that the impact on Mr McGowan’s reputation was “inconsequential”, citing his personal approval polling of 89 per cent and Labor’s sweeping victory in the 2021 state election, in which he increased the margin in his seat of Rockingham to 37.7 per cent .
WA government’s behavior ‘highly disturbing’: Palmer
Mr Palmer responded to Tuesday’s finding by saying it highlighted the extent to which the WA Premier and Attorney-General had conspired in secrecy to change legislation.
This was designed to deprive Mineralogy of its property, according to Mr Palmer.
“Today’s judgment in Sydney from Justice Michael Lee revealed that Mark McGowan and John Quigley plotted between themselves with late-night texts to have legislation changed,” he said.
“It is highly disturbing that this is how the WA government acts.”
Premier’s relationship with media mogul under microscope
The very public spat played out in the Federal Court has also revealed aspects of Mr McGowan’s relationship with the state’s only daily newspaper owner, Kerry Stokes.
Texts between Mr McGowan and Mr Stokes were read in court regarding the introduction of legislation that prevented Mr Palmer from claiming damages in relation to the failed Balmoral South mining project.
A text from Mr McGowan flagged the legislation in question, which was a closely-guarded secret, just minutes before it was introduced to Parliament, saying he would call Mr Stokes to discuss.
Subsequent front pages of The West Australian newspaper featured images of Mr Palmer digitally manipulated to appear as a cane toad and a cockroach, prompting Mr McGowan to thank him for the “marvelous front pages”.
At a press conference, Mr McGowan was asked a series of questions about the nature of his relationship with Mr Stokes.
Mr McGowan defended his decision to let Mr Stokes know about the legislation before it was read into parliament.(ABC News: James Carmody)
He denied Mr Stokes was one of the few people informed of the legislation before it was introduced, saying he had told the expenditure cabinet review committee on the previous Friday.
He said he briefed a number of people before the legislation went before the Upper House, including senior members of the federal government, state opposition, former Premier Colin Barnett, industry associations and groups and a “range of journalists”.
The Premier said he rarely contacted Mr Stokes for advice or discussion around state issues, and could not remember if he called him that day.
Justice Lee also noted WA Attorney General John Quigley’s evidence was “confusing” but he did not believe he was trying to be dishonest.
Mr Quigley later corrected evidence he gave at the trial, while insisting his evidence could be relied upon.
Opposition slams McGowan over trial
Opposition Leader Mia Davies said the trial was a “waste of money and the government’s time.”
Mia Davies says Mr McGowan should have been attending to issues affecting WA rather than spending time in court. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)
“This case wasted time that the Premier could have spent dealing with the multitude of crises on the home front in health, housing and easing the cost of living for everyday West Australians,” Ms Davies said.
She called for Mr Quigley to be given the boot, saying the Premier “needs to wake up and take responsibility for his embattled Cabinet”.
WA Liberals leader David Honey said the defamation trial was an insult to the WA taxpayer, who were “undeservedly footing the bill for Premier McGowan’s bruised ego.”
“WA’s Premier needs to be leading the state, not embarking on unnecessary legal action,” he said.
“The vanity exercise by the Premier has wasted considerable public money but also wasted, as Justice Lee highlighted, valuable court time for far more pressing legal matters affecting the lives of everyday Australians.”
Dr Honey also called for the Attorney General’s role to be immediately reviewed following his “memory failure” in court.
