Clive Palmer was awarded just $5000 in damages, while Mark McGowan was awarded $20,000 as both were rebuked for soaking up the court’s resources.
A Federal Court judge has slammed legal actions brought by mining magnate Clive Palmer and Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan as a waste of court resources, after ruling the two men defamed each other but awarded damages worth far less than their legal costs.
Justice Lee said the court had “controversies of real importance” to deal with and described the case as a waste of taxpayer money. The budget papers anticipated the government would spend a further $3.25 million over the following two years.The office of Mr McGowan, who pledged to reveal the cost to WA taxpayers of the two-year defamation battle, has been contacted for comment.
Justice Lee said he would hear arguments on the award of costs, but “a relevant consideration will be the glaring disproportion between the damages awarded and the extent of legal expense”.
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