State loses bid to keep texts between WA Premier and Attorney-General about Palmer case secret

Confidential textual content messages between West Australian Premier Mark McGowan and Lawyer-Basic John Quigley about Clive Palmer’s border problem can be aired publicly at trial after the state authorities misplaced its authorized bid to maintain the communications secret.

The defamation trial between the mining billionaire and Premier, during which they’re each suing one another, is because of begin within the Federal Courtroom on January 31, with Mr McGowan ordered to attend the Sydney hearings in particular person, regardless of WA’s border closures.

Mr Palmer claims WA’s chief “introduced hatred, ridicule and contempt” and harm his emotions throughout public commentary about him in 2020, together with when Mr McGowan referred to him as “the enemy of the state”.

In the meantime, Mr McGowan is alleging his popularity was broken by ads Mr Palmer paid for claiming he had “abused the parliamentary system” and lied to the folks of WA.

Throughout a Federal Courtroom pre-trial listening to on Wednesday, it was revealed Mr McGowan and Mr Quigley mentioned Mr Palmer’s software to enter WA on Might 21, 2020, a day earlier than the Queensland-based businessman introduced his G2G move had been rejected.

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The entry request was made at a time when each WA and Queensland had no group transmission of COVID-19, and Mr Palmer wished to journey to Perth for enterprise conferences, together with with then-Liberal powerbroker Mathias Cormann.

Through the listening to, Mr Palmer’s authorized crew sought entry to the textual content messages, and plenty of different paperwork it had subpoenaed, after the WA state authorities refused to launch them.

WA’s state counsel Alan Sefton unsuccessfully argued texts between Mr McGowan and Mr Quigley must be not be disclosed beneath authorized privilege.