By staff reporters
Embattled West Australian Liberal member for Canning Andrew Hastie will appear in the Perth Supreme Court on July 28, 2026 to give evidence in his defence allegedly for defaming Perth businessman Greg Poland.
Mr Poland alleges the West Australian MP and his office used a secret audio recording in a conspiracy to damage his reputation.
In 2019 when Mr Poland was the Peel Development chairman WAtoday published a series of articles which he claims portray him as corrupt and exerting improper influence over the WA Labor government.
The articles revealed his involvement in discussions of a plan to dump millions of tonnes of toxic soil from the Perth Airport Link rail project in the Peel region – about 80 kilometres south-west of Perth – and a failed Labor plan to reserve a percentage of the rock lobster industry’s catch to be sold locally.
In 2020 court proceedings Mr Hastie and his staff were subpoenaed to produce evidence of communications with a Peel landowner who Mr Poland’s lawyers allege unlawfully recorded a conversation with him, the landowner’s wife, and a Peel Development Commission officer at the Subiaco Hotel on January 15, 2019, before sending the audio to Mr Hastie’s office.
They allege the recording was then sent to WAtoday journalists — but conceded they did not know by whom — and, along with the articles, forms part of a conspiracy by the news outlet, Mr Hastie, and electoral staffers David Birch and Clare Bradley to damage Mr Poland’s reputation.
They argued a series of phone calls between the MP and WAtoday journalist Nathan Hondros, including a 22-minute call the day before the first article was published, were enough to infer that Mr Hastie may have had some control or given assent to the articles’ publication.
“We infer an agreement between the defendants from an unknown source providing, and Mr Hondros receiving, material forming the substance of the first and second articles and the predominant purpose was to cause harm,” they said.
Mr Poland is seeking the removal of the articles and damages for economic losses.
WAtoday is defending the claims.
Mr Hastie is due to appear in the Supreme Court Perth at 10am on July 28, 2026 and be cross-examined at 2.15pm.
