‘Get smart, right?’ Telephone conversations riddled with menace and expletives

ONE Green: [talking over] Can I, can I, can I just say to you, your girl has run about all over the f-----place, I can give you a list of a lot of the people she’s called on and she’s found f--- all. Nothing. Zero.

Reporter: Well she has found something, because she’s found the items that I’m just putting to you now.

PG: Your girl has found, you want me to give you a list of all the people whose doors she’s knocked on? She’s found zero. OK?

R: Well I don’t think it’s zero, the fact that there’s been these very, very expensive payouts who’ve made claims against you of sexual and racial discrimination.

PG: Sorry, and who says these people, if they did make these claims, who says they’re correct?

R: Well, I’m not saying they’re correct. What I am saying is money was paid out. Now a lot of people would see that as significant.

PG: [speaking over] No, no, no, hold on a second, let’s be clear. Has anybody been found guilty of anything?

R: No, I’m not claiming that, no.

PG: Well you’re clearly trying to sort of state, right, you know, that your girl she found f--- all, running around everywhere annoying everybody OK, let’s be clear. She found nothing.

R: Well I don’t think that is the case, because in fact we’ve spoken with more than a dozen former employees who’ve told us that you regularly behaved in an aggressive and intimidating manner.

PG: Goodness, I don’t want to carry on this conversation really. I’ve said to you I’ll have a without prejudice conversation. You send your email right, my lawyers will deal with it, your lawyers will deal with it OK. I don’t want to be spoken to like that by you. Your girl ran away, your journalists run away and you’re about to be rude so it’s best … thank you for your call.

R: I’m not being rude, I’m not being rude, I’m not being rude at all, I’m just telling you what we’ve found. You said we didn’t find anything.

PG: You found f--- all. Like I said, going and knocking on the doors of current employees who’ve been there 10 or 15 years I find beyond diabolical, OK?

R: People were claiming that you made threats, I don’t know whether they were made seriously, but that you made threats to kill them and throw them out of windows and stuff like that.

TWO

PG: Can I just say to you, to save you and I having another ugly, uncomfortable conversation, can somebody in your organisation that’s called the boss grow some b------- and actually behave in a proper manner? If there’s stuff you want to do then it will be dealt with in a proper way. There’s no point you calling and saying ‘well I haven’t got the authority’. You’ve sent the email, it’s signed by you. R: Yep. PG: OK? It’s going to our lawyers, the company’s lawyers this morning.

R: No, what I’m saying, I’m just saying it’s not my, it’s ultimately not my decision because I’m not the editor.

PG: Then, then, whose decision… yeah but your editor hides, your editor hides. [Inaudible] I’m just telling you facts, your editor hides, right. What I’m saying is it’s not complicated. Will you go and have a conversation [inaudible] call me back and say that’s fine?

R: No, I will call you back, I will call you back, I’ll definitely call you back, that’s what I’m suggesting. THREE

PG: OK? So if your piece, right? You want to talk about those two specific, OK? But you want to start saying I’ve said this about some Indians and this about Chinese, said this about black, right?

R: Yes, but why does that take two days for you to respond to? Presumably you know whether you did that or not?

PG: Because, because, because, because… because, there’s people I need to reach, OK, and things, homework that I need to go and do. And my board want to do.

R: Are you actually able to tell me right now whether you did or didn’t say those remarks?

PG: Daniel, you know what, you know what one of your journalist mates probably, Mr Shah, the last message I wrote to him was “God loves a trier”. Let’s reply properly, OK?

FOUR

R: OK, but I just wanted to relay to you, and obviously I am the messenger on this, but this is what I’m being told is the position, is that we intend to publish tomorrow for…

PG: You intend to publish?

R: Yeah, for Thursday. So publish tomorrow for Thursday. PG: I’m just telling you, take this message back to your editor OK, please, so we don’t have to have a punch-up. I will personally sue your editor for damages that will be long beyond what he’ll be able to earn if he lives to 1,000 years old. Get smart, right? You’re making very, I told you, very damaging allegations, OK? I told you this. 30,000, 25, 30,000 people involved. There’s millions of customers involved. And if you damage the business he is going to need a new job and your paper, your paper might end up bankrupt as well.

FIVE

PG: I’m just saying to you tell your editor I don’t want to waste a load of his money, my money, anybody else’s money, applying for an injunction. You’re not going tomorrow unless we’re ready, let’s be clear. Just Daniel, be a good fellow, OK? Just go back to your editor. We’ll try for tomorrow but it’s more likely to be not all done till Thursday.

R: To be fair though, it’s the paper’s decision when we choose to publish, we don’t actually have to have permission from other people to publish.

PG: Hey, we’re having a sensible conversation, aren’t we? R: Absolutely. PG: Do you want me to go and seek an injunction?

R: No, I’m not asking for that at all.

PG: I’m happy to… I’ve got one against the Government, I’ll get one against you.

R: Well, that’s obviously your decision if you want to go down that route, but…

PG: I don’t want to go down that route, I’m having a calm, quiet conversation with you. I said I haven’t spoken to the lawyers, I know stuff ’s being got to the lawyers, I believe that’s the time frame they need. Don’t know why your… what’s your editor’s f-----rush, he going on holiday?

R: No, no, I don’t think it’s anything to do with that at all, it’s just an editorial decision.

PG: Daniel, I don’t really give a f--- about your editorial, how’s that? Just tell your editor get smart or we’re just going to all waste a load of money for no reason, right? We’ll respond. I said to you we’re not running away, we’re going to respond to your email in detail that’s I believe the time frame, we might be finished earlier, we might not. The fact of the matter that you believe that you’re going to publish tomorrow, you’re living in a dreamland, OK?