Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie has defended his decision to leak to a reporter a covert recording now at the centre of a longrunning defamation action, telling the West Australian Supreme Court his actions were driven by a concern that his electorate could become a dumping ground for toxic waste.
Mr Hastie on Thursday was called as a witness in the defamation claim brought by Perth property developer and prominent Labor supporter Greg Poland against Nine Entertainment’s WAtoday website, two of its former journalists, former WA Liberal leader Zak Kirkup and Mr Hastie himself.
Mr Poland launched the action in response to articles published by WAtoday in February 2019, which were based on a secret recording made by businessman Aaron Grainger of a meeting he had with Mr Poland at the Subiaco Hotel.
Mr Poland was the deputy chairman of the Peel Development Commission at the time. In the recording, he could be heard proposing a deal under which the WA government would give Mr Grainger the rights to a sand mine at Myalup in exchange for dumping contaminated soil from the Forrestfield Rail Link on Mr Grainger’s land at Waroona, southeast of Perth.
Mr Poland could also be heard in the recording speaking about the levels of access he had to senior WA ministers, including current Treasurer and Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti.
“If we can pull this off, anything you want, Rita will be your friend,” Mr Poland could be heard saying.
Appearing on the stand, Mr Hastie described how Mr Grainger had raised the recording during a meeting at Mr Hastie’s electorate office. He said Mr Grainger played him a small portion of the recording, with Mr Hastie then asking Mr Grainger to send him a copy.
Earlier in the trial, Mr Grainger testified that Mr Hastie had given him his word that he would not pass the recording on to anyone.
Under questioning, Mr Hastie denied that he had given any such oath. He said Mr Grainger had told him that he had already sent the recording to various people, including a journalist in Melbourne.
Mr Hastie told the court that he believed the contents of the recording were “definitely in the public interest”, given the potential environmental implications of the plan.
He said he feared that the state would use the Peel region as “a dumping ground for toxic soil”.
Under cross-examination by Mr Poland’s barrister, Martin Bennett, Mr Hastie said he was unaware at the time of Mr Poland’s extensive links to Labor and his support for Labor candidates running in elections at various levels of government in and around his electorate.
Mr Hastie passed the recording on to then-journalist at WAToday Nathan Hondros, whose wife Katie is a current member of Mr Hastie’s staff. Mr Hastie told the court he had chosen Mr Hondros because of his skills and standing as a journalist and his understanding of both the local area and the Labor Party. Mr Hondros had himself previously been a Labor Party staffer.
Ms Saffioti is set to give testimony in the trial on Friday.
It is not the first time Mr Hastie has found himself called before a defamation trial. He previously gave evidence in the defamation trial brought by Ben Roberts-Smith against Nine’s newspapers, where he was one of several former SAS soldiers who testified against the Victoria Cross recipient.
Paul GarveySenior Reporter