Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Clive Palmer announced this week that he's suing Mark McGowan for defamation. Clive is not wrong that he's become 'the subject of ridicule and contempt' and suffered 'damage' to his reputation in Western Australia. However, it is safe to say that much of that is entirely of his own doing. Clive Palmer's arrogant and out-of-touch campaign to force WA borders to open is why he's the subject of ridicule and contempt. People have had enough of him blanketing Western Australian airways, newspapers and mailboxes with ads. Earlier this week, a local Cowan resident, 13-year-old Erin, had her story shared on 720 ABC Radio. She's got a part-time job delivering flyers in letterboxes and was fed up with delivering the yellow pamphlets full of misinformation that were downplaying the risk of COVID-19 to Western Australians. I share her pain. Yellow used to be my favourite colour. She spoke to her boss and told her boss that she didn't want to deliver those pamphlets anymore and ended up taking a pay cut rather than delivering them. I really applaud Erin for standing up for her values.

She's far from alone in her feelings towards Clive Palmer. Here are some comments that some people have made about Clive Palmer on my Facebook page. Andrew said, 'He's a bully, desperately trying to defend himself. Mark McGowan only said what many Western Australians think.' Elizabeth said, 'Clive's own words and actions are why I hold him in contempt, and I'm going back to his meddling in the last election.' Anne said, 'Clive should sue himself, then. He damages his own reputation.' John said, 'He's beyond contempt and he alone is responsible for his trashed reputation.' This is just a small selection of the things that people are saying. David said, 'Palmer's reputation is not paying out the entitlements to his employees when Yabulu went bust. It's impossible to injure his reputation any more than he has done to himself.' Donald said, 'Not a person that is in any way nice. A self-interested person. He has enough money to do all these legal fights. Then he should stump up for the losses of Queensland Nickel and all the people and businesses that got harmed in that collapse.' And Jerry said, 'Clive Palmer is upset because McGowan has described him as an enemy of the WA people, but how else would you describe someone who would wantonly expose us to deadly disease?' This man is not alone. None of these people are alone, and this is the man that our Attorney-General and our Prime Minister supported. Shame on them!

See this speech in context