Joe Hockey has told a Sydney court Fairfax Media had been running a “relentless campaign” against him when he received a long list of questions about his relationship with the North Sydney Forum.
“At that time I was head deep in figures for the budget ... we get hundreds of questions from journalists every day and I had priorities as treasurer of Australia,” Hockey said on day two of his defamation case against Fairfax Media.
The treasurer is suing the publisher for a series of articles published in its newspapers and on the internet about his relationship with the North Sydney Forum. Hockey claims the stories – including one headlined “Treasurer for sale” – defamed him by implying he was corrupt.
“Sometimes journalists go on fishing expeditions and don’t necessarily publish everything; sometimes they never publish,” he said. “They tend to blame their editor. I was preparing a budget and it was a hugely time-consuming issue.”
Fairfax’s barrister, Matt Collins, asked Hockey why he did not answer the questions from Sydney Morning Herald reporter Sean Nicholls.
Hockey said he believed the questions should have been answered by the North Sydney Forum and he was too busy preparing his first budget.
The treasurer said Fairfax was “clearly motivated by the fact they had to apologise for a previous matter in relation to me” but Fairfax’s lawyers have rejected the accusation as a “conspiracy theory”.
Under cross-examination earlier on Tuesday, Hockey said the North Sydney Forum’s pitch for $22,000 a year “to assist Joe Hockey” was “grossly misleading” because he had not accepted money from any organisation or individual.
The coverage in the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age and the Canberra Times last year devastated him and his family, Hockey said.
“I am upset at the suggestion I and public policy could be bought,” he said. “The claims made against me from my perspective were defamatory.”
Collins asked Hockey why the North Sydney Forum membership forms referred to providing practical support to Joe Hockey and used the words “business and community leaders supporting Joe Hockey MP”.
“They have not provided any resources to me,” Hockey said. “I have accepted no money, Dr Collins, at all, from any individual or any corporate.”
The court heard the $22,000 fee gave members and one guest access to 10 boardroom functions a year and events such as lunches, dinners, cocktail functions and breakfasts.
Hockey said he did not attend all the functions. “It would be about five to six a year which would represent about one 1% of the functions I attend a year,” Hockey said.
The forum’s website carries photographs of Hockey and says: “On behalf of Joe Hockey I encourage you to join the North Sydney Forum and to offer your practical support to Joe Hockey.”
However, Hockey told the court the website was inaccurate and the money donated to the forum went to the wider Liberal party not to him individually.
“My preferred words would be ‘business and community leaders engaging with Joe Hockey’. My understanding is they have not provided any resources to me,’’ he said.
“If I chased down everything that is inaccurate that is written about me … I would be spending a lot of time in court. I would rather it not be there.’’
The court heard that some companies who were members of the forum were not based in North Sydney, including Deutsche Bank and UBS.
Collins asked Hockey if the evidence he gave on Monday about the forum being set up because there was no “effective” chamber of commerce was true given that some of the members were national and international lobby groups. “That evidence was absolutely right,” Hockey said. “That was my view.”
“The North Sydney Forum chooses who its members were and people choose to join,” Hockey said. “I had no control over who was joining or not joining.”
The case continues with Fairfax reporters and editors giving evidence on Wednesday morning.
