ABC in ‘cover-up’ claim over Louise Milligan’s tweets about MP Andrew Laming

The ABC is refusing to release documents showing any agreement with Louise Milligan to cover her legal costs and a $79k defamation payout.

The ABC has been accused of a cover-up after revealing there are at least 161 documents involving internal discussions relating to reporter Louise Milligan’s tweets about MP Andrew Laming — and not releasing any of them.

The Daily Telegraph has been sent only blacked-out email chains and blacked-out documents after a request under freedom of information laws.

The ABC also refused to release texts and emails showing any agreement between the Four Corners reporter and her employers about their controversial deal to cover her legal costs and the $79,000 defamation payout.

ABC journalist Louise Milligan at a protest at Treasury Gardens in Melbourne. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

Among the reasons for refusal, the corporation cited legal privilege and privacy.

“It’s hardly private when it involves public money over private comments that turned into a public defamation action where the taxpayer ended up paying for what was really a private matter involving Milligan,” One Nation MP Mark Latham said on Monday.

“It looks like a massive cover-up over public funding of a private legal matter.”

On the eve of what is expected to be a probing Canberra senate estimates hearing into the ABC, Mr Latham said Communications Minister Paul Fletcher should release all the documents.

Dr Laming, the federal member for Bowman in Queensland, launched defamation action against Milligan in May alleging she defamed him in four tweets sent on Mach 28, 2021.

The Federal Court ruled in his favour but the case had been settled with a payment of $79,000 and ran up an estimated $200,000 in legal costs although this has never been confirmed.

The auditor general Grant Hehir said last week that there was no policy or precedent for the decision to cover Milligan’s costs and that the ABC had done it for fear it may have been liable.

The only words not blacked out in 161 internal ABC Millign documents.

Evan Mulholland, Director of Communications at free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs, said the ABC had to withdraw from the media Right to Know alliance which champions freedom of information.

“The ABC should remove themselves as a member of the ‘Right to Know Coalition’ because it’s clear they would prefer the Australian taxpayer to be kept in the dark about the details of the Milligan v Laming defamation case, and the extraordinary circumstances that led them to cover a journalists’ legal expenses for personal tweeting,” Mr Mulholland said.

He also hosts a new podcast Their ABC: What’s wrong with the ABC and how to fix it.

The ABC took over two months to reply to The Daily Telegraph’s freedom of information request and apologised for the delay stating “unfortunately the redactions took longer than expected”.

Out of the 161 pages, all that was visible was the date of one email — sent at 11.59am on Monday June 28 — and the time of the reply at 12.21pm the same day. The names of the writers of the emails were blacked out along with their messages.

Andrew Laming launched defamation action against Milligan in May. Picture: Tracey Nearmy/AUSPIC

Dr Laming had alleged one of Milligan’s tweets implied he admitted to illegally taking a photo of a woman's underwear as she bent over in Brisbane in 2019. In April he was cleared of any criminal offence relating to the photo of the woman.

The Daily Telegraph sought all emails and texts between March 1, 2021 and August 12, 2021 regarding Dr Laming between Milligan and Four Corners executive producer Sally Neighbour, between Millgan and ABC managing director David Andeson and between Milligan and the corporation’s legal department.

The paper also sought any documents showing any agreement between the ABC and Milligan to cover the defamation payout and legal costs, both her costs and those of Dr Laming.