Louise Milligan tweet costs ABC $130K in Laming settlement

Payout for Louise Milligan’s Tweet consists of $79,000 in damages, and around $50,000 in Andrew Laming’s legal fees.

MP Andrew Laming and ABC journalist Louise Milligan. Picture: Getty Images/NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty.

A defamatory tweet posted by high-profile ABC reporter Louise Milligan — which “irrevocably” harmed the reputation of federal Liberal MP Andrew Laming — is likely to cost the taxpayer more than $130,000 in damages and legal fees.

The payout consists of $79,000 in court-ordered damages, and an estimated $50,000-plus in Dr Laming’s legal expenses.

The costs will be covered by the ABC, not Milligan — who, according to her lawyer, still does not admit “liability” for any wrongdoing, despite deleting an offending social media post about Dr Laming.

The outcome of the case prompted Communications Minister Paul Fletcher to issue an unusually sharp rebuke of ABC management over its failure to properly enforce the public broadcaster’s social media policy, and he also hinted that the organisation’s regular requests for funding increases were not helped by taxpayers’ money being squandered “on expenses which could have been avoided”.

“Let me stress: the ABC has operational independence, as well as editorial independence. It is in charge of its own resources. But since the ABC frequently makes a case for additional funding in the public domain, it is worth noting that this episode also illustrates that tight and professional management is of the first importance so that taxpayers’ money is not spent unnecessarily on expenses which could have been avoided,” Mr Fletcher said in a statement.

Dr Laming launched defamation proceedings against Milligan in May after he claimed she posted multiple tweets that “irrevocably damaged his personal and professional reputation”.

Milligan posted “Laming upskirts”, after 29-year-old Crystal White accused the Queensland politician of taking a photo of her while she was bent over at a Brisbane landscaping business in 2019. The photo showed her underwear beneath her shorts.

Dr Laming denied taking a photo under the woman’s skirt and claimed it was a “completely dignified” picture of a woman in her workplace “kneeling in an awkward position and filling a fridge with an impossible amount of stock, which clearly wasn’t going to fit in the fridge”.

Queensland Police investigated the allegation, and cleared Dr Laming of any wrongdoing.

ABC Journalist Louise Milligan participates in the nationwide women’s rally against violence in the workplace. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

Dr Laming initially asked Milligan to delete the tweet and apologise. While the Four Corners reporter eventually deleted the post, she refused to apologise, prompting the Coalition MP to launch defamation action.

On Wednesday the matter was resolved in Sydney’s Federal Court with Justice Anna Katzmann ruling in Laming’s favour. Milligan’s legal team agreed to pay Dr Laming damages of $79,000 and also most of his legal costs, which The Australian understands could be in the vicinity of $50,000.

Milligan engaged legal firm Bird & Bird to represent her, and the ABC covered those legal costs as well. But a spokeswoman for the ABC did not respond to questions from The Australian about the cost of engaging Bird & Bird.

At Wednesday’s hearing, Milligan’s lawyer Renee Enbom QC asked that the judgement include a notation that Milligan did not accept any liability in the matter.

But Dr Laming’s counsel Sue Chrysanthou SC told the court that such a claim was “bizarre and unnecessary”, given the ABC reporter had consented to settlement.

“She is liable via judgment of $79,000 and a costs order,” Ms Chrysanthou said.

“If my learned friend thinks [that] her client has not admitted liability that is incorrect and that misconception should be corrected now.”

Justice Anna Katzmann said she would consent to a notation in the judgement that a “compromise” in the matter had been reached.

In his statement released after the hearing, Mr Fletcher said the case was a waste of taxpayers’ money, and said the ABC’s review this week of its social media policies was overdue.

“Earlier this week, the ABC managing director issued updated guidelines for social media use by ABC employees. They included the requirement that any social media activities by ABC staff ‘do not damage the ABC’s reputation for impartiality and independence’.

“Today’s judgement shows how overdue this update to the guidelines was. It also raises the question of whether the guidelines in their previous form were effectively enforced by management.

“Now the ABC has been exposed to a financial penalty on a scale that could have, for instance, funded the annual salary of an additional regional journalist.”

Dr Laming said he was “pleased by the outcome” of the case.

“My case is an example of how a false allegation can be quickly and widely disseminated over social media by persons who have no direct/personal knowledge of what actually happened,” he said in a statement.

“No one should be subjected to this type of harassment and character assassination without recourse and the defamation laws are important to achieve that end.”

ABC Managing Director David Anderson appears before a Senate estimates hearing.

After the hearing, the ABC released a statement confirming that the matter had been resolved, and that the public broadcaster would cover Milligan’s legal costs.

“Resolving the claim avoids a potentially protracted and costly legal action,” the statement said.

“As previously stated, the ABC decided to pay Ms Milligan’s costs in this matter, a decision arising from particular and exceptional circumstances.”

A spokeswoman for the ABC did not respond to questions from The Australian about the exact nature of the “particular and exceptional circumstances” of the case, but the public broadcaster’s statement did note that one of Milligan’s Twitter posts regarding Dr Laming had contained “an honest error”.

The cost to the public broadcaster comes just two months after the ABC’s managing director David Anderson told a Senate hearing that the defamation action taken by former Attorney-General Christian Porter against Milligan and the public broadcaster cost the ABC $780,000 — $680,000 of which was legal costs.

The ABC also paid $100,000 in mediation costs to Mr Porter’s solicitor Rebekah Giles.

Mr Anderson’s memo to all staff this week about their conduct on social media referred to a “few high-profile defamation cases” involving senior journalists.

Mr Anderson ordered staff to remove any reference to the ABC in their Twitter handle or username, and to have a disclaimer making it clear that posts or likes are their personal view and do not represent the views of the ABC.

A number of politicians and other journalists provided apologies to Dr Laming over potentially defamatory posts on social media, including Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, former Victorian senator Derryn Hinch, Labor senator Murray Watt, news.com.au journalist Eliza Barr and Crikey’s William Bowe.

Among those to delete the posts made about Laming included Labor Senator Kristina Kennelly, Women’s Agenda editor Georgie Dent, Victorian Labor MP Paul Edbrooke and Ten reporter Tegan George.

Dr Laming still intends to pursue Nine Entertainment for defamation for a segment that aired on Nine News earlier this year.