Liberal MP Andrew Hastie takes stand in WAtoday defamation trial

Federal Liberal MP Andrew Hastie has taken the stand in a defamation trial, asserting his innocence in the alleged distribution of a covert recording. The case was brought by Perth property developer Greg Poland against national media organization Fairfax Media and two former journalists.

Poland is also suing Hastie, two of his staffers, and former WA Liberal leader Zak Kirkup. They are accused of sharing a secret recording that formed the basis of 2019 articles published by WAtoday. The reporting alleged Poland planned to dispose of millions of tonnes of "toxic" soil from Perth's airport rail tunnel construction at a property south of the city.

The articles relied on a recording of a 2019 meeting between Poland and sand miner Aaron Grainger. In the audio, Poland discusses his access to Transport Minister Rita Saffioti and suggests a land swap deal with the government for the soil. Poland claims the articles falsely imputed he is corrupt and engages in secret, undue-process deals.

Hastie testified that he shared the audio file with former WAtoday journalist Nathan Hondros via WhatsApp. He denied telling Grainger he would not share the recording and stated it was possible he also shared it with Kirkup. Hastie maintains he did nothing wrong by sharing the file.

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If we can pull this off, anything you want, Rita will be your friend.