‘Anger’ at allegation

A CEO has given evidence about a torrent of allegations made against him, including claims of corruption and money laundering by a pair he is suing in a landmark social media defamation case

LQAQ chief executive Greg Hallam is suing former MP and current Cairns Regional Council councillor Rob Pyne and Tablelands resident Lyn Elizabeth O’Connor over a series of allegedly defamatory Facebook posts.

In 2018 Mr Hallam filed for $2.5m in damages.

At the core of the lawsuit was the posting of a meme that likened Mr Hallam to Star Wars gangster Jabba the Hutt. On the stand during day 10 of the trial in the Cairns District Court barrister Michael Amerena read a Facebook post to Mr Hallam allegedly authored by Ms O’Connor on September 20, 2017.

“LGAQ rehomes all the stray CEOs. They don’t check the suitability, desex or microchip them either,” he said.

“So the filth gets rehomed just like the churches used to do, moving offenders from parish to parish. The LGAQ boys’ club protects their kind.”

Mr Hallam said he remembers seeing the post and was then asked by Mr Amerena how it made him feel.

“High level of anger, high level of frustration, powerlessness, inability to deal with complete and utter falsehoods,” Mr Hallam said.

The LQAQ boss told the court he was the victim of “politicking” by Rob Pyne who used social media to raise his profile as “corruption crusader” and get traction in the mainstream print and TV media.

“Grandstanding” to use parliamentary privilege in late 2017 to expose alleged corruption when Mr Pyne was the Member for Cairns was another tactic used, Mr Hallam told the court.

“I saw it for what it was, it was a political strategy,” he said.

“There was very significant attempts to make this a mainstream media issue. I felt powerless, like I had no control of the agenda. I was in the process of getting more and more concerned, feeling like I was in a washing machine … it was all patently untrue and not supported by fact.”

Mr Hallam told the court he had taken “two extra Valium” the morning of the hearing after suffering from a series of “psychotic dreams” involving “persons in the courtroom chasing me, attacking me and being on a treadmill and not being able to get out”.

The trial before Judge Dean Morzone continues next week.