Two of 5RB’s members, Tom Blackburn SC and Patrick McCafferty, are appearing for the claimant Wagner family in what Tom Blackburn SC has described to the court as “a defamation that is unparalleled as far as we’re aware in this country” because of the gravity, volume and persistence of the allegations.
The four Wagner brothers are prominent Queensland industrialists. The defendant, talk show host Alan Jones, is being sued over statements he made about the family in 32 radio and TV broadcasts in 2014 and 2015. The claimants say that Jones accused the family of being responsible for the deaths of 12 people in floods in 2011 that followed the collapse of a wall of one of their quarries.
The trial is expected to run for several weeks.
