The Auditor-General has found the ABC did not have documented advice or policies to support its decision to pay star reporter Louise Milligan’s $200,000 in legal costs after she was sued by Federal Liberal MP Andrew Laming over a series of tweets where she incorrectly accused Mr Laming of “upskirting”.
In a formal response to an investigation request instigated by Liberal Senator Eric Abetz, Auditor-General Grant Hehir concluded he was unable “to form a view on the appropriateness” of the ABC’s decision to pay $79,000 damages plus legal costs to Dr Laming to settle the case.
The ABC paid star reporter Louise Milligan’s $200,000 legal bill after settling a defamation case with Federal Liberal MP Andrew Laming, with the Auditor-General finding the ABC no formal advice to support its decision to do so.
Mr Hehir said the ABC had advised him that its decision to pay Milligan’s personal legal costs “was a business decision of the ABC, and the ABC was under no express legal obligation to meet these costs”. Milligan was represented by external legal firm Bird & Bird.
“The ABC advised the business decision placed the ABC in a better position to facilitate a swift resolution to the Dr Laming proceedings and to assist the progress of the separate legal proceedings,” Mr Hehir wrote in a letter responding to Senator Abetz, published on the Australian National Audit Office website on Monday.
“To the ANAO’s knowledge there is no documented advice which was prepared to support the appropriateness of the decision to meet the costs of an employee.”
Mr Hehir’s response also revealed the total bill to be paid by the ABC was about $200,000 and said the events exposed weaknesses and risk in the broadcaster’s social media policies, which ABC management updated following Milligan’s settlement with Dr Laming in early August.
Queensland Liberal MP Andrew Laming received $79,000 in damages, paid for by the ABC, for a series of tweets by journalist Louise Milligan.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
“The ANAO understands that the total liability of the journalist, which will be met by the ABC, will be in the vicinity of $200,000,” he wrote.
Senator Abetz, a vocal critic of the public broadcaster, wrote to Mr Hehir in August requesting he review the “appropriateness” the ABC using public funds to settle the case. At the time, the ABC justified the decision on the grounds of “particular and exceptional circumstances”.
Mr Hehir said it was the duty of the ABC board or its delegates to ensure the proper use of public resources by balancing the perceived business advantages against the financial costs. But that in the absence “of any ABC policy, precedent, or process in place for this payment,” Mr Hehir said he was unable to assess the ABC’s decision in line with the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.
“Given the available information, I do not believe I would be able to form a view on the appropriateness of this decision,” Mr Hehir wrote.
Dr Laming sued Milligan personally, with the broadcaster not party to the suit, over four since-deleted tweets published on March 28 this year from her personal account, including one that incorrectly suggested he had admitted to the criminal offence of taking an “upskirting” photo of a woman’s underwear.
Dr Laming, who will quit politics at the next election after allegations emerged that he harassed two women online, took action over the tweets after Queensland police in April cleared him of any criminal offence over a photo he took of Brisbane woman Crystal White while she stocked a fridge at a landscaping business in 2019.
An ABC spokeswoman claimed the Auditor-General’s letter was consistent with the broadcaster’s previous statements on the Laming matter, namely “that it acted to avoid potentially protracted and costly litigation”.
She said the broadcaster believed the recent update to the ABC’s social media guidelines had now addressed the potential risks identified by these events.
“The Auditor-General also notes that the ABC obtained external legal advice on its social media guidelines to manage potential legal risks and subsequently made amendments to those guidelines and developed a program of staff training,” the spokeswoman said.
“At the time of issuing the revised guidelines, the Managing Director stressed that ABC staff are personally liable for activities on their own social media accounts”.
Senator Abetz said it was “wholly inappropriate” for the ABC to pay for the legal costs of a staff member who made remarks in their private capacity.
“The report demonstrates the urgent need to reform the ABC to provide policies in this area to prevent further cases of taxpayers’ spending their money on private defamation cases (in this one case, a sum of $200,000),” Senator Abetz said.
At the time Dr Laming commenced proceedings against Milligan, the ABC was also defending a defamation suit brought by former attorney-general Christian Porter that concerned Milligan’s reporting of a historical rape allegation against him, which he denies.
The Auditor-General said the broadcaster advised him the Managing Director of ABC discussed both legal matters between 22 – 25 May 2021, including whether the ABC could be found to be vicariously liable for Milligan’s personal use of social media.
“The ABC advised that this decision was made to effectively allow engagement with the complaint by Dr Laming such that both the Dr Laming complaint and the separate legal proceedings could be managed in an optimal and timely manner, and minimise financial exposure,” Mr Hehir said.
But he added: “No specific external legal advice was sought in relation to the decision to meet the costs.”
Dr Laming has threatened to sue at least 10 other journalists and politicians, receiving apologies and retractions from Greens Senator Sarah Hanson Young, former Senator Derryn Hinch, Chaser owned outfit The Shot, Senator Murray Watt, blogger William Bowe, Queensland Labor MP Don Brown and journalist Eliza Barr.
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