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A millionaire mining boss has taken a Dalkeith yacht club to court after being accused of speeding in his yacht and damaging other boats and club infrastructure.
However, Victory Metals chief executive Brendan Clark’s case was thrown out, with a Supreme Court judge ruling it lacked any “tangible backing or objective foundation” to suggest internal club communications sought under pre-action discovery were defamatory.
Clark was accused of speeding along the Swan River in his 72-foot Sunseeker luxury motor yacht on February 9, causing “substantial” damage.
It was alleged that the boat was travelling at 20 knots in a 5 knot, “no-wake” zone when large swells snapped a pile and crashed four boats into finger jetties at Aquarama Marina in East Fremantle, damaging the boats and jetty structures.
Clark denied the allegations, but days after the incident, the East Fremantle Yacht Club published a notice about the damage and publicly pointed the finger at Clark and his boat Enigma.
They later issued an apology and retracted the accusations.
The general manager of the Perth Flying Squadron Yacht Club then emailed Clark under the subject line “Speeding Complaints”, informing him he had received numerous complaints from other yacht clubs and their members about the alleged incident.
Clark was requested to attend a meeting with the club’s management to give his version of events.
The fiasco prompted Clark to cancel his membership and move his boat to Royal Perth Yacht Club in Crawley.
He later made a Facebook post stating that, “my girl ENIGMA is now in a new home that’s way classier than the shit hole it came from. She deserves better”, before telling the “arrogant yacht clubs” that he would “take it all the way”.
And Clark did just that, hiring local legal heavyweight Martin Bennett to initiate proceedings in the Supreme Court of WA to sue the Perth Flying Squadron Yacht Club.
Clark suspected the club had defamed him in internal committee communications and had leaked CCTV footage of the Enigma from February 9 to East Fremantle Yacht Club.
On Thursday, however, Justice Craig Bydder dismissed a pre-action discovery application after finding that the club did not disclose any CCTV footage.
Bydder also ruled that Clark’s case did not have any “tangible backing or objective foundation” that the club’s internal communications were defamatory.
Clark is described as a self-made property investment millionaire. His early success was in the commercial real estate and property development sectors before he later ventured into mining.
Victory Metals is an Australian company focused on heavy rare earth elements and gold exploration.
Clark also runs a charity organisation called Health Hope Zambia, which has operated mobile medical clinics and worked to reduce malnutrition-related deaths in Zambia.
His May social media post stated, “the truth eventually comes out” before urging anyone else in a similar situation to “stand up”.
“People love pulling down anyone who’s actually built something,” he said.
“But those who know me, know that I don’t give up. Never have. From real estate to building hospitals in Zambia that are saving kids lives, to pushing Australia’s critical minerals future and I won’t be walked over.
“If you’re going through similar bullshit, stand up. Don’t let them walk on you. The truth comes out eventually. Appreciate the real ones who’ve had my back.”
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