ClubsNSW has successfully restrained former employee and whistleblower Troy Stolz from making public statements that are calculated to “intimidate, harass, or otherwise bring improper pressure” on the clubs lobby as it sues him for disclosing confidential information about lax compliance with money laundering laws in the state’s poker machine industry.
Stolz, a former ClubsNSW money laundering and counter terror financing compliance manager, spoke to the ABC last year about what he alleged was a widespread failure to comply with money laundering and terror financing laws in the sector.
ClubsNSW is now suing him for breach of confidence in the federal court.
Earlier this year, ClubsNSW told the court it was victim to an “oppressive” public campaign by Stolz, who had spoken about the case to Guardian Australia and other media outlets, and in tweets, retweets and via a GoFundMe page he set up to help pay for his defence.
The body said Stolz’s comments had prompted members of the public to send derogatory messages, including saying its “blood-sucking organisation is just a parasite” and accusing it of “legal thievery”.
ClubsNSW said the campaign was “inflammatory and frankly misleading” and an attempt to put pressure on it during the proceedings. It said the campaign was designed to falsely imply it was suing Stolz as retribution for him blowing the whistle.
The federal court earlier this year considered whether it needed to restrain Stolz using an injunction to prevent his comments from interfering in the administration of justice and causing contempt of court.
Stolz’s lawyers had argued the public commentary had not interfered with the administration of justice.
But Justice David Yates on Wednesday ordered Stolz be restrained.
“As to injunctive relief, I’m satisfied, based on Mr Stolz’s past conduct, that [ClubsNSW] has demonstrated a real threat that Mr Stolz will, unless restrained, continue to engage in that conduct or conduct of a similar kind,” he said.
The order proposed by the court would restrain Stolz from saying anything about the conduct of ClubsNSW in the case that is calculated to “intimidate, harass, or otherwise bring improper pressure on the respondent”.
ClubsNSW had sought for an order “restraining public statements, including to the media, about the applicant’s purpose in maintaining the proceeding against the respondents and its conduct in the proceeding”.
The court said that was too broad.
Yates said the orders would not stop the applicant from speaking publicly about the case.
But he said Stolz would now need to “tread carefully”.
“For its compliance, the injunction the applicant seeks does no more than call for the exercise of the judgment which must be exercised in any event if, for example, one wishes to take the step of commenting publicly on the course of litigation or on the conduct of a party in, or in respect of, that litigation,” he said. “If this is the path that Mr Stolz chooses to take, there is no restraint on him doing so.”
“But, if he wishes to continue on that path, he must tread carefully.”
The court had previously heard that Stolz had retweeted a tweet suggesting a conflict of interest in the court’s consideration of the injunction. That was described by ClubsNSW as “deeply irresponsible” and Stolz’s lawyers apologised to the court for the conduct and said the tweet was without any foundation.
Stolz has also had communications with independent MP Andrew Wilkie’s office about a ClubsNSW report on the handling of money laundering laws by registered clubs.
Wilkie subsequently raised the matter in parliament and attempted to table a document given to him by Stolz.
ClubsNSW attempts to obtain the Wilkie correspondence has prompted an intervention from parliament’s powerful privileges committee, which found the federal court case may breach the privilege attached to communications between an MP and their constituents.
Stolz did not press a claim for privilege over the documents.
