Wife denies bankruptcy aim in case
The wife of a hotel owner suing Labour leader Andrew Little for defamation has denied wanting to bankrupt the politician over comments he made about a Niue resort deal.
Lani Hagaman, the wife of Scenic Hotel Group founder Earl Hagaman, said receiving an apology and legal costs were her main concern, during the second day of a civil jury trial at the High Court in Wellington. The Hagamans are seeking $2.3 million in damages for comments Little made about a $101,000 donation they made to the National Party during the 2014 election, and a contract their Scenic Hotel Group won a month later to manage the Matavai resort in Niue, which receives government funding.
During cross-examination by Little’s counsel John Tizard, Lani Hagaman was asked why she withdrew an application which would have meant only costs could be awarded, not damages, in addition to a court declaration. She said an apology and legal costs were her main priority, but she thought a law change meant the option was no longer available to her.
She confirmed she wanted the jury to award damages as close to the $2.3m figure as possible, saying ‘‘my husband’s reputation is worth every penny of that’’.
‘‘My husband is dying in Christchurch, I’m fighting for his reputation for something that should have never happened, and Mr Little has had every opportunity for 12 months to come back to me.’’
However, she denied wanting to bankrupt Little over the case. ‘‘Do I want to bankrupt someone? I don’t want to bankrupt anybody.’’
Little ‘‘should have got his facts sorted’’ before making comments about the hotel contract, as one phone call to Scenic Hotel Group would have clarified the situation.
While there were discussions about an apology from Little last December, there was disagreement over the form it should take.
Scenic Hotel Group managing director Brendan Taylor told the court the company was told the management contract discussions for the resort needed to follow a ‘‘quite rigorous’’ tender and government process, while Scenic itself ‘‘made sure we played it to the book’’.
Hagaman’s donation to National never came up during the contract negotiations, and Taylor said he would have been ‘‘disgusted’’ if there was a connection between the two. Taylor said he had ‘‘fairly good autonomy’’ with negotiating acquisitions, due to the trust he had built up with the Hagamans over more than 20 years with their company, and Earl Hagaman was not involved in the deal.
National Party president Peter Goodfellow, who received the Hagamans’ donation, said he arranged to meet the couple at their Christchurch home and was surprised when he saw the size of the donation. While he talked ‘‘in general terms’’ about the contribution that Scenic Hotels had made to New Zealand, there was no discussion of the company’s plans for Matavai resort.
The donation was disclosed to the Electoral Commission within 10 days as required by law, Goodfellow said.
The case continues today.