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Hockey ‘devastated’ by claims he was ‘up for sale’

AAP

AAP

Joe Hockey says accusing opponents of lies and hypocrisy is part of the rough and tumble of politics, but he was absolutely devastated by a newspaper headline that said he was a “treasurer for sale”.

Mr Hockey took the stand in the Federal Court in Sydney on Monday for a question time very different to his usual Canberra experience – testifying in his defamation action against Fairfax Media over articles his lawyers claim contain “scurrilous and false” allegations about access and influence.

Mr Hockey told the court he was devastated by articles published in Fairfax’s Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers on May 5, 2014 under the headline “Treasurer For Sale”.

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The stories examined a political fundraising body in Mr Hockey’s electorate, the North Sydney Forum, where members who paid an annual fee were able to meet the Treasurer at special events.

Mr Hockey told the court he learnt of the articles via a call from his press secretary just after midnight on the day of publication.

A few hours later, he saw the front page stories at his Canberra newsagent and in his regular morning bakery.

“The papers were everywhere,” he said.

Asked what he thought the stories said about him, Mr Hockey replied: “That I’m corrupt” – which was not true.

ABC

Joe Hockey outside the Federal Court in Sydney. Photo: ABC

Mr Hockey appeared upset and scowled as he described how he was worried about the impact of the stories on his wife, his children and his elderly father.

In the days after the stories were published, his daughter asked him “whether someone was trying to buy me”, and his father broke down in tears.

“The only thing you walk out of politics with is your reputation,” he said during questions from his barrister Bruce McClintock SC.

“If, in the eyes of your own family, as there was in the phone call with my father, there’s a doubt – a brief doubt – then what have you got?”

Mr Hockey’s lawyers claim the articles, along with newsagent placards and messages published on Twitter, were published as an act of “petty spite” after the Treasurer sought and obtained an apology for an article published two months earlier.

Mr Hockey’s lawyers claim the stories imputed he accepted or was prepared to accept bribes and that he corruptly solicited payments to influence his decisions.

Fairfax is expected to argue it was in the public interest to publish details about the North Sydney Forum.

Fairfax’s barrister Matthew Collins QC quizzed Mr Hockey about a number of critical public comments he made on Twitter and elsewhere about political opponents – among them former Labor prime ministers Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd, as well as Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.

The court heard one 2013 tweet published on Mr Hockey’s official account read “Access to Rudd, at a price … FACT” and linked to a Sydney Morning Herald story about Mr Rudd.

Other tweets called Ms Gillard “a disgrace” and accused Mr Rudd of “repeating old lies”.

“Do you consider it part of the rough and tumble of political life to call your opponents hypocrites?” Dr Collins asked.

“As they do me,” Mr Hockey replied.

Dr Collins asked Mr Hockey whether the North Sydney Forum was set up to raise money for the MP’s re-election campaign but Mr Hockey said he was not involved with the running of the organisation, which he viewed more as a forum for business networking.

The trial continues before Justice Richard White on Tuesday.

-AAP

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