Lawyers for Liberal party MP Andrew Laming have sent legal letters to a slew of high-profile politicians and media figures ahead of a looming defamation battle against the ABC investigative journalist Louise Milligan.
On Sunday, lawyers acting on behalf of Laming lodged documents in the federal court alleging Milligan had “gravely injured” the embattled MP’s “character and reputation” in a series of tweets on 28 March relating to a photo he took of a woman bending over at a Brisbane landscaping business in 2019.
The claim, seen by the Guardian, alleges that Milligan “intended” for the “sensational, accusatory and spiteful” tweets to “irrevocably damage” Laming’s “personal and professional reputation”.
Laming’s solicitor, Rebekah Giles, also represented former attorney general Christian Porter in his case against the ABC over a story authored by Milligan.
The statement of claim alleges the Four Corners journalist knew that publishing the tweets would result in them being “republished in social media and mass media throughout Australia”, and that the MP suffered “substantial hurt, distress and embarrassment” as a result.
While the ABC said it would not comment on a current legal matter, the Guardian has confirmed the public broadcaster intends to pay Milligan’s legal costs. That prompted Liberal senator James McGrath to write to ABC chair Ita Buttrose on Monday asking why the ABC was paying for what he described as tweets issued “not in a work capacity”.
“As the action relates to tweets issued by Ms Milligan not in a work capacity (as Ms Milligan has admitted) how can you justify this to the taxpayer?” he wrote in a letter that he then posted on Twitter.
“I note that Mr Laming is personally paying for his legal costs.
“As the ABC is strong on campaigning for accountability I’m sure you won’t mind advising the taxpayers how much you have spent so far on Ms Milligan’s legal costs and how much the ABC has budgeted for Ms Milligan’s legal costs.”
The decision to file the claim against Milligan is a significant escalation in what has been a quietly developing saga between Laming and a number of high-profile Australian political and media figures.
Laming has already secured apologies from Greens senator Sarah-Hanson Young, Labor senator Murray Watt, former Victorian senator Derryn Hinch, News Corp Australia journalist Eliza Barr and Queensland Labor party state MP Don Brown.
Many others, including New South Wales Labor senator Kristina Keneally, are understood to have been on the receiving end of letters of concern from Laming’s lawyers.
The Guardian understands Keneally deleted four tweets about the MP after she was issued with the notice.
The notices relate to comments made about Laming in relation to accusations from 29-year-old Crystal White who accused him of taking a photo of her while she was bent over, exposing her underwear beneath denim shorts, while she completed an office task at a Brisbane landscaping business in 2019.
White made a formal complaint to the Queensland police, who cleared Laming over the incident, determining there was “no evidence to indicate a criminal offence”.
The notices chiefly relate to the characterisation of the incident as “upskirting”, an offence under the Queensland criminal code.
In March, Laming denied taking a photo under a woman’s skirt, claiming 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”.
“That was the subject of the photograph, it was completely dignified,” he told ABC Radio at the time.
“If it were not, there will be no sense in taking a photograph in the first place, and the point was to show a real live workplace, a humorous situation where a person was given a task that was clearly difficult. It was like a game of Tetris, trying to get the stock into a fridge.”
While Milligan removed her original tweets, she published a statement on the site in June in which she said it was not an “upskirt” photo, and detailed the MP’s denials over the incident.
Milligan also urged readers to read a “very comprehensive” ABC article that stated Laming would not be charged by police.
“Initial impressions circulated widely that this was an upskirt photo were incorrect because the woman was wearing shorts and she was alleging her underwear could be seen from the top of the shorts,” she wrote at the time.
But Laming’s lawyers described the statement as “self-serving” and took issue with her decision not to apologise to the MP.
Scott Morrison has previously described Laming’s online behaviour as disgraceful and the Bowman MP has been blocked from running for re-election as a Liberal. His active legal campaign comes amid an explosion in the number of defamation cases launched by MPs.
Among them are defence minister Peter Dutton, who is suing refugee activist Shane Bazzi over a tweet labelling him a “rape apologist”, and NSW deputy premier John Barilaro, who is suing the YouTube comedian Jordan Shanks.
While some lawyers have argued that MPs are “resorting to litigation or threats at the drop of a hat”, Laming’s solicitor Giles disagreed. In a statement that she stressed was not specifically related to Laming’s case against Milligan, Giles said there was a “vast difference” between free political communication and criminal allegations.
“Free speech in discussing political matters is an important part of a democratic society and robust debate is necessary in that context,” she said.
“However, there is a vast difference between the vigorous exchange of views and the publication of false accusations of criminal conduct without any attempt to check the allegations or behave reasonably and responsibly before disseminating them.”
