Former Federal MP Andrew Laming hit with $20k fine over pre-election Facebook posts

Ex Federal MP Andrew Laming has been slapped with a $20,000 fine over pre-election Facebook posts, including one where he pretended to be another person.

Former Federal MP Andrew Laming has been slapped with a $20,000 fine over a series of Facebook posts in the lead up to the 2019 election, including one in which he praised himself while pretending to be another person.

A Federal Court judge said Dr Laming’s attempt to disguise himself as the author of the post was “misleading conduct” that “strikes at the core of the integrity of our electoral system”.

Justice Darryl Rangiah on Wednesday handed down his judgment in the matter brought by the Australian Electoral Commission, finding Dr Laming contravened the relevant legislation three times from December 2018 to May 2019 by failing to properly identify his name and city in the posts.

Justice Rangiah found that two other posts the AEC complained about were not electoral matter and therefore did not constitute a breach.

Former MP Andrew Laming.

The relevant posts were all made on a Facebook page entitled “Redland Hospital: Let’s fight for fair funding”, of which Dr Laming was an administrator.

The first post made on December 24, 2018 stated: “We are working so hard to sort out Redland Hospital funding, and we were delighted when Andrew Laming announced an $83 million dollar (sic) funding boost to our local hospital service in the latest financial year (17/18). Well let’s FACT CHECK. Turns out he wasn’t entirely correct. One of our spies found Queensland National Health Reform Funding – and it tells a different story. We cant (sic) reproduce it, but the statewide table shows that indeed 7.8% of the 2017/18 money was from previous years. So Laming is 92.2% accurate if State data reflects Redlands and he boosted funding by $77 million.”

Justice Rangiah said it was evident from the post that Dr Laming “was pretending it was posted by someone else”.

“It seems to be a case of praising through faint criticism,” the judge said.

“In effect, Mr Laming, while pretending the post was made by someone else, purports to check the accuracy of his own claim, and concludes that while he did not boost funding by $83 million, he did boost funding by $77 million.

“I infer Mr Laming thought that by pretending the post was written by someone else, his self-flattery is more likely to be accepted by viewers as true and his achievement admirable.”

Justice Rangiah fined Dr Laming $10,000 for that post, saying there was no doubt his intention was to promote himself and that was made clear by his “deception” in pretending the post was made by someone else.

“I regard the first post as particularly serious. It was not merely a case of Mr Laming omitting to notify his name and relevant town or city, but a deliberate attempt to disguise the fact that he was its author,” he said.

“Misleading conduct of that kind strikes at the core of the integrity of our electoral system.”

Former MP Andrew Laming.

During the relevant period, Dr Laming was a member of the House of Representatives and represented the division of Bowman, encompassing parts of the Redland and Brisbane cities.

Justice Rangiah said another post to the page on February 7, 2019 in which Dr Laming posted an image comparing health funding provided by the LNP and ALP also constituted a breach. He was fined $5000 for that post.

As did a post made on May 5, 2019 for which he was fined anther $5000 and in which he posted a table setting out government health payments with the accompanying caption: “Know anyone supporting Labor. Send them this”.

A post made on February 13 in which he referred to himself in the third person and said he had “ripped Labor a new one over the hospital” was not found to have breached electoral laws.

“In respect of the (February 7) and (May 5 posts), Mr Laming omitted to notify the relevant particulars,” Justice Rangiah said.

“It is appropriate to take into account in his favour that he made a post on 14 January 2019 (after the First Post, but before the Second and Fifth Post), referring to, “the “About” tab which makes it clear that Andrew Laming was involved in establishing this page and maintaining it,” Justice Rangiah said.

“That went part of the way to disclosing that Mr Laming may have been responsible for some posts appearing on the Facebook Page.

“However, he did not disclose that he made the Second and Fifth Posts, and it is uncertain whether viewers of those Posts were aware of the 14 January post.”

Former MP Andrew Laming. Picture: NCA NewsWIRE/Tertius Pickard

Dr Laming was represented by lawyers on the first day of his case in September 2022 but parted with his legal team and represented himself for the continuation of the hearing.

“Mr Laming submits that the overall context of the communications is important,” Justice Rangiah said.

“He argues that the ruling, prevailing or most influential purpose of the posts was to address the Queensland Government’s reduction in funding of the Redland Hospital, not to influence voting in a federal election.”

“I find that Mr Laming contravened (the act) by communicating the First, Second and Fifth Posts without ensuring that his name and the town or city in which he lived were notified in accordance with the requirements ….”

The parties have been invited to make submissions about costs for the proceedings.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli has sidestepped questions on Dr Laming and whether he backed the former MP, saying “what’s transpired is a matter for him”.

Dr Laming - who is understood to planning to make a tilt to the state seat of Oodgeroo - was an MP for 18 years until 2022.

Asked whether Dr Laming was a “fit and proper person to be a member of the team” in light of the court ruling, Mr Crisafulli said “in terms of what’s transpired, that is a matter for him. On the other (matter), that’s a matter for the party”.

“I’ve always said we’re a grassroots party, and that’s a matter for the party,” he said.

“Based on what I’ve seen so far with the people who have already been preselected, the nominations that I’ve seen coming from the next wave of positions, and the inquiries that I’m getting for a number of seats, I’ve got faith that there will be really good quality people and I’ve got faith there’ll be people I can be proud of and people who Queensland will be proud of.”

Asked whether it was up to him as leader to set the standard, Mr Crisafulli said he believed he did - once that person was “in the team”.

“Now, once someone’s in the parliament, well then I set that standard,” he said.

“I make sure that my shadow cabinet and indeed my team members conduct themselves in a way that Queenslanders will be proud of.

“In terms of who the candidates are, that is a grassroots responsibility, and I have every faith that we’re a party that choose good quality people.”