Mr Mitchell said
Mr Feldman seemed incapable of understanding politics, law or the media's
role.
By Matthew Franklin, The Courier-Mail, Wednesday 18th August 1999
One Nation leader Bill Feldman has launched an extraordinary attack on The Courier-Mail claiming it drove former One Nation MP Charles Rappolt to suicide.
In a strongly worded speech under Parliamentary privilege, Mr Feldman singled out Queensland Newspaper's editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell and investigative reporter Paul Whittaker as having blood on their hands over Mr Rappolt's suicide in New Zealand.
Mr Rappolt won the seat of Mulgrave for One Nation in last year's state election but later quit, citing stress and personal pressure.
During a condolence motion addressing Mr Rappolt's life and death, Mr Feldman said "the Murdoch press" had pushed Mr Rappolt over the edge by reporting issues involving his private life.
"Little did Paul Whittaker care when he accepted stolen documents from a former disgruntled One Nation adviser, Debbie Beaven (also now a reporter at The Courier-Mail), concerning Charlie's domestic situation.
"Little did Chris Mitchell, editor-in-chief of The Courier-Mail, care when he disregarded not just a Supreme Court injunction but flew in the face of the domestic violence legislation that prohibited the publication and printing of the details of this document.
"This is the same dingo pack that is signatories to a court action concerning the (alleged) improper publication of a Labor member's name on an Internet site.
"I wonder how their selective conscience will be affected by this little gem."
Mr Mitchell said
Mr Feldman seemed incapable of understanding politics, law or the media's
role.
"We contravened no Family Court laws in our original publication of details of domestic violence orders against Mr Rappolt," he said.
"Mr Rappolt and his party regularly lied to the people of Queensland about those orders.
"We are not
party to any action against Scott Balson (who allegedly published the MP's
name on the Internet).
"I would point out that Labor, National Party and Liberal Party MPs have all faced the sort of scrutiny that seems to make Mr Feldman go weak at the knees, but we have operated within the law."
Mr Feldman also speculated whether a series of articles published in The Courier-Mail after Mr Rappolt's death was an attempt to lighten the newspaper's collective conscience.
Solicitor for The Courier-Mail Doug Spence said yesterday the late Mr Rappolt and his electoral secretary Ms Higgins had sought an injunction in September last year against the newspaper and Whittaker to restrain publication of any defamatory material which breached the Domestic Violence Act.
"In fact the subsequent publication on September 3, 1998, neither disregarded a Supreme Court injunction nor breached the domestic violence legislation," Mr Spence said, "The reporter has denied accepting any stolen documents."