‘I thought I was the fall guy’: WA businessman’s reasons for covert recording aired in defamation trial

The business owner behind a covert recording at the centre of a defamation trial has admitted he decided to record a meeting with the Peel Development Commission because he had concerns he was “getting set up”.

Aaron Grainger and his wife met with Commission Deputy Chairman Greg Poland and commercial officer Lisa Taylor at the Subiaco Hotel in 2019 to discuss a land swap deal which would allow Grainger to take ownership of a valuable sand-mining site in Myalup without going to tender.

In exchange, Grainger would give the state government a place to dump contaminated soil from an airport development – a plot of land in Waroona.

That meeting was recorded without Poland or Taylor’s knowledge and later sent to journalists at this masthead, who published two stories which formed the basis for the defamation case brought about by Poland.

On Monday, Grainger told the court he had spoken with his wife about his concerns, and told her he was going to record the conversation as a safety net.

“I thought if something goes wrong I’m going to be the fall guy,” Grainger said.

“There was a lot of people in there, it was in public, so I recorded it.”

Grainger said during the meeting, Poland came across as aggressive.

“He was pointing his finger a lot at me,” he said.

“If someone is in your face, pointing a finger in your face, wouldn’t you call that aggressive?”

Grainger also said Poland was “quite loud” at the meeting, and had acted in a similar manner during a prior meeting at the Peel Development Commission, “minus the finger pointing”.

He said this made him feel uncomfortable and “a little bit intimidated”.

“I was there for a meeting and I just had to listen,” Grainger said.

Grainger said he had requested the meeting be held at the Commission, like prior meetings had been, as it was closer for him to get to, but was told by Taylor this was not possible because Poland was busy.

In the weeks following the meeting, Grainger met with Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, former WA Liberal Leader Zak Kirkup and others about obtaining the sand mining site in Myalup and Aboriginal employment opportunities in the Peel region.

Grainger was looking at a deal that could combine the two, and was in discussions with local Indigenous men Franklyn Nannup and George Walley. The latter was also at the meeting with Hastie.

At that meeting, Grainger revealed he had been presented with an opportunity to obtain the Myalup land on his own, but was going to turn the offer down.

Grainger claims Hastie did not believe him, which is when he mentioned he had recorded the conversation.

Hastie asked for a copy, which Grainger said he provided under the proviso that it remained confidential and was not passed on.

Following that meeting, he received a phone call from two former journalists at this masthead.

During that phone call, which was recorded and played in court on Monday, Grainger is asked if he can confirm off the record whether he was in attendance at that meeting, and if the recording was an accurate representation of Poland’s comments.

“You’ve heard it, my voice is in it,” he replies.

“You heard the recording, they’re trying to extort me.”

He claimed the recording had been lodged with the Corruption and Crime Commission, but that they had no interest in investigating it.

Grainger was not made aware he was being recorded during this discussion.

Cross-examination turns to plans for ‘toxic’ soil

He was then cross-examined by Poland’s lawyer Martin Bennett, regarding a conversation with a real estate agent about the use of the land in Waroona.

After a coffee catch up with Grainger, the agent submitted a proposal to the Peel Development Commission about the potential for using the land to take the contaminated soil, depending on the concentration of PFAS.

She suggested the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation could grant a license to clear the land to accommodate the soil, and that once the soil had been buried the site could be remediated and revegetated.

Grainger then sought a meeting with members of the Commission board, including Poland, but stated the discussion would be based on resource expansion for the Peel region and not the agent’s proposal.

Bennett questioned why the agent’s proposal was not discussed, given it was “detailed”, and why Grainger had not let the board know whether he had authorised or endorsed it.

Grainger said he hadn’t felt the need, given it was only a verbal conversation and the agent had approached him about the problem.

“I didn’t like the way she was doing things so I got rid of her,” he said.

Grainger was also grilled on the coffee catch up with Poland, and on how many people were present at the time the recording was made.

While Grainger stated there were plenty of people around them during the meeting, including at a table next to them, Bennett has argued that is not the case.

Grainger also made several phone calls to his lawyers before the meeting and also phoned a journalist from The Age, who he knew from a previous story, about the legalities of recording the conversation.

That journalist, Grainger said, told him it was legal in a public place where others could also overhear.

The trial continues, with the defence expected to give their opening statements on Tuesday.