How to get public sympathy (and extra votes??)!! Don't cry for me
Victoria.....la, la, la, la.....
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Devastated, but Kennett will pay the bill
13mar99
A SHATTERED Jeff Kennett is determined to reject any offers from
wealthy friends to help him face a $250,000 crisis.
Figures close to the Premier said his pride would prevent him
accepting charity in the wake of a Supreme Court jury throwing out
his defamation claim.
One friend, who declined to be named, said the verdict was a tragedy
but a new bond between Mr Kennett and wife Felicity would get the
family through.
"He is devastated but he is such a proud person he'll refuse any
assistance ... and he would never approach me on such a matter," the
friend said.
"He is so proud and so honest. He wants this to remain his problem
and not burden anyone else."
Mr Kennett put on a brave face yesterday after a jury's ruling he had
not been defamed by an article in The Australian. But he conceded he
had to grapple with a massive legal bill.
"I suspect this action I may be paying for the rest of my life in one
way or another," he said.
"I've run through a few things in my mind � like most of you I've got
a huge bloody mortgage, as it is now � so I don't have a pot full of
money. I don't have a beach house to sell. I don't have a lot of
shares."
Asked how hard it would be to pay the legal expenses, Mr Kennett
said: "At this stage, almost impossible."
Mr Kennett and his wife Felicity yesterday pulled out of today's
Liberal Party society wedding of Ann Peacock and Michael Kroger to
avoid the public spotlight.
CONTINUED Page 5 Premier devastated by legal bill<
FROM Page 1 "They are just sick of it ... and I don't blame them for
not wanting to face the barrage of TV and radio," a source said.
Friends conceded the $250,000 legal bill would place great strain on
the family, but said the cou ple's marriage was strong.
"Because they had a temporary split then got back together, the
relationship is now glued to a degree that normal married people
don't have," a friend said.
"This is a tragedy, but the bond � the love � between them is such
they'll get through it."
Another source said friends admired Mr Kennett for having the
"courage to stand up for what he thought was decent".
"Lesser people would have melted," the source said.
In other developments:
SOURCES said the Liberal Party was unlikely to come to the Premier's
aid. "The party is not obliged to pay the legal bills of its
politicians," a source said.
ANDREW Peacock, Australia's ambassador to the United States, in town
for his daughter's wedding today, closed ranks behind his friend Mr
Kennett. "I'm not saying anything," he said.
PRIME Minister John Howard said politicians were victims of
intrusiveness. "We are a lot more disrespectful of personal privacy
and taste and civility now than we used to be," he said.
IT EMERGED Mr Kennett refused two offers to settle the case,
including one of $70,000. He said it was rejected because he
didn't believe a suitable apology was also offered.
NEWS Limited group editorial manager Warren Beeby, for The
Australian's publisher, Nationwide News, estimated the overall legal
bill could reach $250,000.
SOURCES said it was possible Mr Kennett's legal team could reduce its
bill to ease the burden.
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