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For most of the 35 years that radio titans Alan Jones and Ray Hadley were stablemates and professional rivals at 2UE and 2GB, Jones had the upper hand. He had the prestige breakfast slot and the ratings to match, while Hadley, who in any other world would have been undisputed king, barked at his debonair behind.
As Hadley took his seat in the witness stand to provide evidence against Jones on Tuesday afternoon, in what must surely have been the most galling development in their relationship, Jones continued to turn the other cheek.
There was an uninterrupted line of sight between the pair at diagonal corners of the courtroom. But Jones found much to write about in his notebook and took great interest in a spot on the ceiling as Hadley gruffly related what the complainant “C” had allegedly told him about Jones “touching his c—”.
“I kept consoling him,” Hadley growled. “I felt sorry for him and I suppose I wanted to go across the other side of the desk and give him a hug, but I just kept telling him it wasn’t his fault and he didn’t have to keep explaining to me why he didn’t reject his advances.”
Hadley is only a supporting witness to one of the six complainants in the sexual touching case against Jones but, in the version of events that Jones will seek to prove, his involvement is crucial to the allegations being brought.
Jones’s barrister Gabrielle Bashir, SC, portrayed in her opening address a Shakespearean drama in which “rivalry, treachery, double-dealing, money, hatred, desperation, opportunism and more” had conspired to bring down her client. Days before Hadley appeared on the stand, his assistance to Herald journalists putting together the stories that precipitated the criminal trial was posed as a power move in a broader struggle between radio hosts.
Bashir suggested to “C” that he made his allegations at a time Jones was in “a greatly weakened position” due to attacks on him by feminist groups on social media, and that Hadley was in a position to benefit from any such allegations.
“You understood that if the story was in the public or made known to those in power at Nine [which then owned 2GB], that would benefit Hadley,” she suggested to “C”, who disagreed and denied the relevance. She raised the fact that Hadley faced his own spot of bother with bullying allegations at 2GB around the same time.
Hadley, in beige trousers and a dark jacket, loped to the witness stand to provide evidence against Bashir’s client. He leant forward on clasped hands, spoke earnestly, bowed to the judge, and made self-deprecating remarks about his age when asked to leave the room for legal argument.
Hero, villain or model witness? Court was adjourned just an hour into his testimony. Judge Glenn Walsh has days to make up his mind.
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