ABC’s $150,000 legal bill to defend Louise Milligan against Andrew Laming defamation action

Defamation action taken by MP Andrew Laming against Louise Milligan cost the ABC more than $150,000, new documents show.

The ABC has spent more than $150,000 in legal fees and damages after high-profile journalist Louise Milligan used her private social media account to “irrevocably” harm the reputation of federal Liberal MP Andrew Laming.

Documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws have revealed the publicly-funded broadcaster spent $45,829 in legal costs to engage external lawyers to represent Milligan, despite the ABC having their own legal team of up to 30 in-house lawyers.

The defamation action was launched by Dr Laming in May after Milligan posted multiple tweets that he said “irrevocably damaged his personal and professional reputation”.

The ABC used external Sydney-based legal firm Bird & Bird to represent the Four Corners reporter, following posts she made on her private social media account, in her own time, which falsely claimed: “Laming upskirts.”

Documents seen by The Australian show the ABC was invoiced to pay $45,829 in legal costs to Bird & Bird in July.

In addition to this, the ABC also paid $30,000 to Laming’s lawyers.

He was represented by top defamation solicitor Rebekah Giles.

The matter was resolved in Sydney’s Federal Court in August but the legal costs to the ABC have not been disclosed until now.

Justice Anna Katmann ruled in Dr Laming’s favour and Milligan’s legal team agreed to pay his damages and legal costs; the Queensland politician received $79,000 in court-ordered damages.

In a tweet posted by Milligan on April 15, she wrote “Laming upskirts” after 29-year-old Queenslander Crystal White accused the federal MP of taking a photo of her bent over while working at a Brisbane landscaping business in 2019.

The photo showed her underwear beneath her shorts.

Dr Laming denied taking the photo under the woman’s skirt and said 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”.

He requested Milligan delete the tweet and apologise. While the ABC reporter agreed to delete the tweet, she refused to apologise which prompted Dr Laming to launch defamation proceedings.

An ABC spokeswoman said regarding the decision to pay for Milligan’s legal costs: “The circumstances involved the consideration of complex legal matters.”