Clive Palmer pays $500,000 in court costs over Mark McGowan defamation case but taxpayers foot $2m bill

Clive Palmer has been forced to hand over nearly half a million dollars in court costs over his defamation stoush with Premier Mark McGowan — but the trial has still left taxpayers with a bill of more than $2 million. The defamation case was among more than a dozen lawsuits launched by the Queenslander after the McGowan Government in 2020 passed extraordinary legislation that effectively terminated his right to a $30 billion arbitration claim related to his Balmoral South iron ore project. Mr Palmer and Mr McGowan engaged in a public slanging match over the law change — as well as a subsequent High Court challenge to the validity of WA’s hard border — that culminated in the billionaire suing over defamation. Mr McGowan then countersued, with the matter ultimately heard in the Federal Court earlier this year where Justice Michael Lee awarded minor damages to both men while criticising the complete waste of court resources. In addition to the $20,000 in damages Mr Palmer was on Thursday ordered to pay the Premier, Mr McGowan revealed that the Queenslander had also agreed to shell out $445,700 in costs related to the case. The money covered the Premier’s costs from the period after December 22 last year when he offered to settle the matter out of court but was rebuffed by Mr Palmer. However, the net cost of the entire case to the WA taxpayer was $2,021,665. The case was also a source of major embarrassment for Attorney-General John Quigley, who was forced to request a do-over in the witness box and had his testimony described as “all over the shop” by Justice Lee. Defending his role in the saga, which included labelling Mr Palmer “the enemy of Australia”, Mr McGowan said the war of words came at a time when he was involved in a “significant conflict” with the former Senator and that he was “asked about it practically every day” by reporters. He said he accepted the court ruling that he had defamed Mr Palmer, which resulted in $5000 in damages, and that the whole matter was “regrettable”. “But what I don’t regret is saving West Australian lives and saving the State ($30 billion),” Mr McGowan said. The Premier also provided an update on 13 other court cases brought by Mr Palmer that all relate either to the Bill that killed off his arbitration claim or his previous attempts to tear down WA’s now-dismantled hard border. Eleven of those matters have now been finalised, with Mr Palmer also ordered to pay $103,436.62 in costs over a High Court case in which he unsuccessfully alleged Mr McGowan and Mr Quigley were in contempt of the court. Recovery of costs is ongoing in nine of the other cases — which span the Federal Court, High Court and Supreme Courts in NSW and the Northern Territory — while no order on costs was made in the tenth. Two cases are ongoing: the first is a Queensland Court of Appeal hearing where Mr Palmer’s company Mineralogy is attempting to overturn a decision to set aside his arbitral awards, while the second in the Federal Court challenges the validity of provisions in the legislation that extinguished Mr Palmer’s right to arbitration. Mr McGowan was unable to say how much the myriad legal actions had cost taxpayers in total, but said it was “very significant”. “I didn’t want or seek this,” Mr McGowan said in relation to the defamation case. “I didn’t start the proceedings. But the State and myself could not give in to Mr Palmer in relation to these matters. “These things are by their nature costly. I’m frustrated, like everyone, frustrated by this set of events.” Shadow attorney-general Nick Goiran said the recovery of just over a fifth of the total costs of the defamation case was “the worst of Christmas presents” for WA’s taxpayers. “The problem for taxpayers is that the Premier’s intemperance and arrogance has now cost us all more than $1.5 million dollars,” he said. “Had Mr McGowan acted like a statesman and refrained from engaging in these ego games, Western Australia wouldn’t now be left funneling money better used fixing the hospital, housing and child protection crisis our State is currently facing.”