After living across the globe, the McGarrys thought they had found their forever home on Perth’s most expensive street. Instead, it marked the beginning of a three-year dispute that is now in court.
After living across the globe, the McGarrys thought they had found their forever home on Perth’s most expensive street. Instead, it marked the beginning of a three-year dispute that is now in court.
By Jesinta Burton
March 11, 2025 — 8.01pm
Some of the most prominent residents of Perth’s “millionaires’ row” — from former WA governor Malcolm McCusker to media mogul Kerry Stokes — have been dragged into a bitter council dispute that has spilled out into the WA Supreme Court.
After more than two decades living interstate and overseas, Meredith McGarry told the court she and her property developer husband Paul believed they had found their forever home when they purchased 52 Jutland Parade in late 2021.
But within six months, Meredith said the mere sight of the $12.4 million Dalkeith block on the banks of the Swan River gave her “a sinking feeling” akin to passing a hospital in which a loved one had died.
The McGarrys sued former Nedlands councillor Andrew Mangano in 2023 over claims he defamed them during three separate council discussions about the site’s development, which he is defending on the basis his comments were substantially true.
Mangano had twice called on the city’s administration to intervene over claims the pair had placed tonnes of dirt on their verge unlawfully, created a trip hazard, and that the works led to run-off issues.
While on the stand on Tuesday, Meredith became emotional recalling seeing the allegations republished by the media and knowing they had been viewed by friends, family, former co-workers and members of her community.
She also provided evidence as to the breadth of the readership, claiming she was quizzed about the dispute by an acquaintance near her Eagle Bay holiday home and by a private ski instructor during a trip to Japan.
“I have never done anything illegal – it was pretty upsetting,” Meredith told her lawyer Robert Anderson KC, grabbing a handful of tissues.
“I am quite a shy, private person, and that’s now the only thing you can find if you Google me.
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“It made me embarrassed because Perth isn’t a big place and everyone I already know has formed an opinion.
“I told [people] it was a storm in a teacup, but it wasn’t because it has followed me.”
But on the second day of proceedings, Mangano’s high-profile defamation lawyer Sue Chrysanthou SC took the court through correspondence which showed he had only ventilated the issues after they were raised by the pair’s neighbours, including McCusker’s wife Tonya.
An email penned by Tonya McCusker and copied to several neighbours, including an agent for Stokes’ private company Australian Capital Equity, exposed their concerns about the effect the works were having on their properties.
In the email, tendered as evidence, Tonya expressed concern the works were taking place without appropriate authorisations, with photographs showing the volume of sand being moved and damage to their boundary wall.
The contractor had also damaged the footpath and nicked a sewage pipe in laying the groundwork for the pair’s five-storey mansion, something Meredith said they had apologised for and had done what they could to rectify.
She did concede, however, that the pair were aware the neighbours were unhappy with the works, recalling an impromptu neighbourhood meeting at the site in February 2022 that she claimed felt like “an ambush”.
But when grilled about the correspondence, Meredith told the court she still did not believe the concerns justified Mangano’s actions.
And she also denied any knowledge of an email the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions sent her husband on March 9, 2022, which ordered the pair to take immediate action to address the risk of sediment flowing into the Swan River as a result of works it said were undertaken without its authorisation.
“Isn’t it worse to destroy the Swan River [than Mangano’s comments]?” Chrysanthou asked.
“I am suggesting you and your husband were accused of conduct worse than what you claim were soul-destroying allegations made by my client.”
Meredith defended her right to express frustration about the media coverage given she and her husband brought the lawsuit, claiming she did not believe the matter would go to trial but felt she had no choice.
She told the court she and her husband had tried to resolve the matter amicably to no avail.
“I want my name to be cleared and Paul’s name cleared because we did not do anything illegal,” she told the court.
Adamant she did not need financial compensation, Anderson KC asked his client whether an apology from Mangano would suffice, to which she replied: “Yes, I would appreciate that.”
But Chrysanthou said that wasn’t the only condition of a peace deal.
“Every settlement you wanted against my client required an admission that he was wrong, and you were right,” she replied.
The trial also heard from Post Newspaper journalist Ben Dickinson, the author of several of the original articles, as well as Paul McGarry’s younger brother.
Paul is expected to resume his evidence in court on Wednesday.
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Jesinta Burton – is a journalist with WAtoday, specialising in civil courts, business and urban development.Connect via Twitter or email.
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