Mr Palmer (pictured with his wife Anna) repeatedly took Mr McGowan and the WA government to court during the Covid pandemic

A judge has issued a scathing attack on Clive Palmer and Mark McGowan after ruling they defamed each other during a war of words at the height of the Covid pandemic. 

Justice Michael Lee issued an at-times terse 139-page judgement to wrap up Federal Court proceedings that began in 2020 – with $5,000 in damages awarded to the mining magnate and $20,000 to the West Australian premier. 

Justice Lee said the two-year stoush was a waste of the court’s time.

‘The game has not been worth the candle,’ he said in his judgement. 

‘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.’ 

Mr Palmer (pictured with his wife Anna) repeatedly took Mr McGowan and the WA government to court during the Covid pandemic

Mr Palmer (pictured with his wife Anna) repeatedly took Mr McGowan and the WA government to court during the Covid pandemic 

Given court resources were stretched, political figures should ideally only sue for defamation if there was ‘real reputational damage and significant hurt to feelings’, he added.

Mr Palmer in 2020 sued Mr McGowan, claiming the premier’s public comments – including labelling him an ‘enemy of the state’ – had damaged his reputation.

The Queensland businessman sought aggravated damages, accusing Mr McGowan of seeking to ‘blacken his name at every opportunity’.

But Justice Lee found while the insults against Mr Palmer could not be considered trivial, they ultimately caused very little damage to his reputation.

Mr McGowan, who counter-sued for defamation, had also sought aggravated damages.

Justice Lee accepted the premier had suffered hurt feelings but said Mr Palmer’s attacks on him, including claims he had acted corruptly, had probably only enhanced his reputation and popularity within his home state.

He described Mr McGowan as generally an impressive witness but one who had at times evaded directly answering questions.

The judge was more critical of Mr Palmer’s testimony, saying it appeared the billionaire had been willing to ‘fashion his evidence’ to best suit his case.

Mark McGowan (pictured at al-Janoub Stadium in Qatar's capital Doha during a visit to the venue on July 6) was awarded $20,000 in damages

Mark McGowan (pictured at al-Janoub Stadium in Qatar’s capital Doha during a visit to the venue on July 6) was awarded $20,000 in damages 

It emerged in 2020 that Mr Palmer was seeking up to $30billion in damages over a 2012 decision by the former Liberal state government not to assess his proposed Balmoral South iron ore project.

The McGowan government subsequently rushed through extraordinary legislation to prevent Mr Palmer suing the state.

Justice Michael Lee issued an at-times terse 139 page judgement to wrap up proceedings

Justice Michael Lee issued an at-times terse 139 page judgement to wrap up proceedings

In his evidence, Mr Palmer – whose bid to bring down WA’s hard borders was rejected by the High Court in 2020 – said he was scared because provisions in the legislation protected the government from criminal prosecution.

Referring to the fictional character James Bond and his ‘licence to kill’, Mr Palmer told the court: ‘I didn’t know what the limits might be.’

Justice Lee described this claim as being so outlandish that it undermined Mr Palmer’s entire testimony.

‘To even his most rusted-on partisans, Mr McGowan would be unlikely to have been thought to resemble Ian Fleming’s fictional MI6 character, James Bond,’ Justice Lee said.

‘But Mr Palmer gave evidence that he thought Mr McGowan had a “licence to kill”. He swore he regarded the Amendment Act as “a statute that authorised Mark McGowan to kill Clive Palmer”.’

The judge was also critical of WA attorney-general John Quigley, who was recalled to give evidence a second time after making errors in his initial testimony.

Justice Lee described Mr Quigley’s evidence as ‘confused and confusing’ but stopped short of calling him a dishonest witness.

Mr McGowan on Tuesday said he stood by Mr Quigley and ‘would go to my grave proud’ of the anti-Palmer legislation.

‘I didn’t want to be put in this position but everything I have done has been an attempt to protect the interests of Western Australia,’ he told reporters.

Justice Lee described Mr McGowan as generally an impressive witness but one who had at times evaded directly answering questions

Justice Lee described Mr McGowan as generally an impressive witness but one who had at times evaded directly answering questions 

Mr Palmer said Justice Lee’s findings showed the premier and attorney-general had ‘plotted between themselves with late night texts’.

‘It is highly disturbing that this is ho the WA government acts,’ Mr Palmer said in a statement.

In private text messages revealed during the trial, Mr McGowan described Mr Palmer as ‘the worst Australian who’s not in jail’.

Mr Quigley privately labelled Mr Palmer a ‘big fat liar’.

The parties will return to court on August 11 to deal with costs arising from the proceedings.

The judge was also critical of WA attorney-general John Quigley (pictured), who was recalled to give evidence a second time after making errors in his initial testimony

The judge was also critical of WA attorney-general John Quigley (pictured), who was recalled to give evidence a second time after making errors in his initial testimony 

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