Outback Wrangler host Matt Wright’s insurer refuses to defend him over chopper crash that killed Chris Wilson

Outback Wrangler host Matt Wright’s insurance provider is refusing to defend him or his aviation company Helibrook in a civil lawsuit brought by the widow of his Netflix co-star Chris Wilson, who was killed in a Northern Territory chopper crash. Danielle Wilson launched civil proceedings against the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and Wright’s company Helibrook in December over her husband’s death during a crocodile egg collecting mission at West Arnhem Land in February 2022. The destroyed Robinson R44 Raven II was owned by Helibrook and operating under a CASA authorisation – which allowed the company to sling a person beneath their piston engine powered helicopters for the purpose of crocodile egg collecting – at the time it crashed. Mr Wright’s representatives had, until this week, maintained that Helibrook’s insurer – represented by Carter Newell Lawyers – would be “conducting the defence to the claim”. However, Helibrook yesterday filed a “Change of Lawyer” notice in the proceedings. The West Australian understands that following a directions hearing last Thursday, the insurance provider declined indemnity to both Helibrook and its high-profile director. A spokesperson for Mr Wright has since confirmed that Gillis Delaney Lawyers will now represent Helibrook in the civil case. At another directions hearing in Sydney yesterday, Barrister Darryn Kelly was acting for Helibrook, Mr Wright and his wife Kaia. Ms Wilson has engaged Salerno Law managing partner Cliff Savala, who briefed aviation barrister David Lloyd SC and Matthew Kalyk from 12 Wentworth Selborne. Mr Kelly yesterday sought undertakings that Ms Wilson would not use any information obtained during this proceeding for the purpose of any other civil or criminal proceedings and that she would pay compensation, as directed by the court, to any person affected by the operation of the freezing order. “There’s a lot of media publicity, there are other proceedings on foot, and my clients are concerned to make sure that things within these proceedings stay within these proceedings,” he said. “For example, including the letter that was sent to the court, and it’s been tendered, but on this application … all of that should be covered by the privilege that attaches and a Harman undertaking I would have thought.” Mr Kalyk said his client, Ms Wilson, would provide the “usual undertakings to damages” and abide by the Harman undertaking, which is a promise to the court to not use any confidential information disclosed in the proceedings for any purposes outside of the case. “We were also seeking that the order we made that Matthew Wright be joined,” he said. “I understood your position was that it’s neither consented to nor opposed.” Ms Wilson last week applied to join Mr Wright to the lawsuit as a third respondent. Mr Kelly indicated he had only received the file this week and was still getting across the case. “My understanding of the position was that … neither Helibrook nor Mr Wright were in a position at this stage to raise any positive opposition effectively to what would be tantamount to almost a summary dismissal type ground,” he said. “For what it’s worth, I don’t at the moment anticipate, on my instructions, any change in that position but a lot of information has to be obtained from Mr and Mrs Wright in the next, whatever it is, two weeks and your honour can assume there’s a lot of material as well out there already. “I don’t expect a position to change but I wouldn’t … like to be seen to acquiesce to a position and then seek to change it so unless there’s a problem, I’d ask that the entirety of the application be stood over.” Mr Kelly told the Federal Court that Mr Wright might seek to have the case thrown out, based on their assertion that he had “nothing to do” with the chopper crash that killed Wilson and left pilot Sebastian Robinson a paraplegic. “And to be clear about that your honour, there appears at the moment to be one fundamental cause of this accident, and I don’t want to oversimplify it, which on the face of it has nothing to do with Mr Wright,” he said. “And to be quite blunt, I’ve been briefed fairly recently for the application and I’m the one who raised with my instructing solicitors a question about the strength of that argument. “Now I, knowing the difficulty of what is essentially a summary dismissal disposal type application, that’s the reason I said I don’t expect it to change but I don’t want to have locked my clients into a position.” It is understood Mr Kelly was referring to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s findings last year that the helicopter probably collided with terrain on the morning of February 28, 2022, because it ran out of fuel. However, the ATSB’s findings are inadmissible in criminal and civil proceedings. The Federal Court also heard yesterday that the Wrights had, through their legal representatives, provided an interim undertaking not to sell any assets before the next directions hearing. Justice Elizabeth Raper set the matter down for a half-day hearing to deal with the interlocutory application to join Mr Wright to the proceedings as a third respondent and freeze the Wrights’ assets at the next directions hearing on March 22. In the meantime, Mr Wright will face the Darwin Local Court on February 27 after NT WorkSafe charged the celebrity croc-wrangler and his company with “reckless conduct for operating unsafe aircraft”. NT Police has also charged the 44-year-old with seven serious criminal offences related to his alleged actions after the fatal crash. The most serious charge, attempting to pervert the course of justice, is listed for a criminal call-over in the NT Supreme Court on March 14, where a trial date or a further hearing could be set.