Mark McGowan has been pressed to reveal how much WA taxpayers have forked out to fund his legal team in the defamation trial with Clive Palmer, as the Premier argues the billionaire’s ‘ultimate mission’.
Peter Law
Premier Mark McGowan offered a defamation deal to billionaire litigant Clive Palmer to end the bitter dispute before last Christmas — but it was turned down by the mining magnate.
Tim Clarke
Lawyers for both Premier Mark McGowan and billionaire litigant Clive Palmer will return to court on Thursday, to argue over the costs of a case a Federal Court judge labelled as ‘futile’.
Mark McGowan’s security staff have swooped after he was targeted by a student during a visit to WA’s most prestigious university.
Josh Zimmerman
Attorney General John Quigley has apologised to Parliament for what he said was a ‘silly little error’ while giving evidence in the Federal Court at Mark McGowan’s defamation trial with Clive Palmer.
Peter Law and Josh Zimmerman
COVID testing and PPE rules at WA’s public hospitals will be relaxed from next week to make visits easier, speed up the flow of patients and allow staff to return to clinical duties.
WA Labor will not contest the North West Central by-election created by the retirement of Nationals MP Vince Catania, with voters in the regional electorate heading to the polls next month.
Premier Mark McGowan believes China’s aggressive response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan ‘has been a bit over the top’ and called on Beijing to ‘calm down’.
Nurses at Peel Health Campus in Mandurah have hit out at Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson, fearing they will be stripped of their sick leave entitlements when the hospital switches from private to public.
Bethany Hiatt
As MPs prepare to once again trade barbs in Parliament this week, the Premier has deflected suggestions John Quigley’s best years may be behind him.
Rebecca Le May
Young West Australians in the child protection system will no longer have the support tap abruptly turned off the moment they turn 18, with financial, emotional and other help now extended to 21.
The risk of contracting monkeypox in WA remains ‘very, very low’, according to the Premier, despite the first case of the virus being reported in Perth.
A mass rally by public sector workers at State Parliament will still go ahead later this month but some unions look set to accept the McGowan Government’s improved pay rise offer.
In tonight’s show, Harvey points out the cringeworthy absurdities in the Palmer-McGowan defamation trial and why West Australians are the true losers.
Ben Harvey | Tue, August 2
Clive Palmer’s legal team used the case to unearth text messages between Mark McGowan and Quigley that showed how even those in high office are guilty of crude banter in private.
Mark McGowan has opened up on his defamation battle with Clive Palmer, backing John Quigley as Attorney-General and revealing the stress he felt going head-to-head with the mining magnate in court.
WA Attorney-General John Quigley has been described as a ‘confused and confusing’ witness, with a Federal Court judge saying he could not rely on any evidence he gave to the Premier’s defamation battle.
Mark McGowan and Clive Palmer have been found to have defamed each other during their 2020 vicious war of words - according to the Federal Court.
Mark McGowan has pledged to reveal the cost to WA taxpayers of his two-year defamation battle with Clive Palmer after a Federal Court judge delivers his verdict today.
Federal Court Justice Michael Lee will hand down his long-awaited decision on the highly contentious trial between the billionaire and the Premier on Tuesday morning. WATCH A LIVE STREAM OF THE VERDICT
Miriam Fisher
D-Day has arrived in the two-year defamation battle between Mark McGowan and Clive Palmer, with a Federal Court judge set to deliver his long-awaited verdict on Tuesday.
WA has reported a dip in COVID hospitalisations and continued its downward trend in active cases - although the Australian Medical Association has warned the worst is still to come.
It’s a good thing Labor has Mark McGowan’s star power to rely on, because it’s increasingly clear he finds himself surrounded by duds at the Cabinet table.
Editorial
Alannah MacTiernan ‘went a bit far and made a mistake’ when claiming an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease would result in cheaper meat and milk for West Australians, according to Mark McGowan.
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