Federal Liberal MP Andrew Hastie has taken the stand in a defamation trial brought against him by a Perth property developer to defend his role in allegedly distributing a covert recording at the centre of the case.
WA businessman Greg Poland is suing national media organisation Fairfax — which has since been absorbed by Nine — and two of its former journalists, over two digital articles published under the WAtoday masthead in 2019.
Property developer Greg Poland, as pictured on his LinkedIn page. (LinkedIn: Greg Poland)
Mr Poland is also suing Mr Hastie, two of his staffers, and former WA Liberal leader Zak Kirkup for their alleged role in sharing a secret recording that formed the basis of the articles.
The reporting alleged Mr Poland planned to dump millions of tonnes of "toxic" soil taken from the construction of Perth's airport rail tunnel at a property south of Perth on behalf of the WA government while the developer was in a senior position on the board of a government authority.
The article relied on a covertly recorded meeting between Mr Polandand sand miner Aaron Graingerat the Subiaco Hotel in 2019.
In the 46-minute recording played to the court, Mr Poland can be heard boasting about his access to Transport Minister Rita Saffioti and suggesting to Mr Grainger he should propose a land swap deal with the government to take the soil.
The secretly recorded meeting occurred at Subiaco Hotel. (ABC News: Cy Millington)
Mr Poland tells Mr Grainger he had been asked by Ms Saffioti to find a solution to the soil issue and was "talking about getting rid of a political headache for the government".
"If we can pull this off, anything you want, Rita will be your friend," Mr Poland is heard saying to Mr Grainger on the recording.
Greg Poland (right) and his lawyer Martin Bennett (left) outside court in Perth. (ABC News: Lauren Smith)
Mr Poland said the articles made an imputation that he is corrupt and engages in secret deals between the state government and private businesspeople without due process — claims he vehemently denies.
Hastie denies wrongdoing
Earlier in the week, the court heard how Mr Grainger emailed the audio recording to Mr Hastie's office.
Mr Grainger testified that Mr Hastie told him he wouldn't disclose or share the audio recording with anyone.
He told the court he recorded the meeting without Mr Poland's knowledge because he thought he was being "set up".
Taking the stand in the Supreme Court on Thursday, Mr Hastie said he shared the audio file of the meeting to former WAtoday journalist Nathan Hondros on WhatsApp.
Nathan Hondros is a former WAtoday journalist. (ABC News: Lauren Smith)
But he denied he did anything wrong by doing so.
Mr Hastie said he did not accept that he told Mr Grainger he wouldn't share the recording.
He said it was possible he shared it with Mr Kirkup, who at the time was the local Liberal MP, and later went on to become the leader of the WA Liberal Party.
Mr Hastie says he sent the audio file to the journalist. (ABC News: Courtney Withers)
"I don't recall sending it to Mr Kirkup, but I don't deny that I probably did," Mr Hastie said.
Concern over 'dumping ground'
Mr Hastie recounted the day he first met Mr Grainger when they spoke about the recording.
He said Mr Grainger told him he was approached by the Peel Development Commission, of which Mr Poland was the then-deputy director, to assist them with "solving a problem".
At the time, Mr Hondros was working for WAtoday, one of the state's daily online news publications. (ABC News: Gian De Poloni)
Mr Hastie told the court he was curious based on what Mr Grainger had told him about the encounter.
"I felt it was significant for the state government," Mr Hastie told the court.
"My concern was that the state government was going to use the Peel region as a dumping ground."
When Mr Hastie was questioned on why he shared the recording with Mr Hondros, he said it was because he thought he was a "good" journalist.
WA's Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti, and former Labor ministers Alannah McTiernan and Dave Kelly are also expected to give evidence.
