Latest news with #AndrewLaming
The Advertiser
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Former MP's win against $40,000 fine for Facebook posts
Former Liberal MP Andrew Laming has won a High Court case against a $40,000 fine imposed over three illegal campaign messages posted on social media. He was the Liberal MP for Bowman, in southeast Queensland, when he posted on the "Redland Hospital: Let's fight for fair funding" Facebook page ahead of the 2019 federal election. The posts between December 2018 and May 2019 were found to have not been properly authorised with his name and area of residence, as required for political communication by candidates. Dr Laming was initially fined $20,000 by the Federal Court for three contraventions of federal election law. But the Australian Electoral Commission appealed, arguing the former MP contravened the law 28 times - equal to the number of people who saw the Facebook posts. The Full Court of the Federal Court agreed and doubled the fine to $40,000, so Dr Laming took the fight to the High Court. On Wednesday, the court ruled the contraventions occurred when the posts were created, rather than when they were seen. Dr Laming welcomed the decision as an end to the years-long legal tussle. "I'm satisfied with the result and I hope it will lead to a sensible conclusion of the matter," he told AAP. The electoral commission was ordered to pay Dr Laming's legal bill for his successful appeal to the High Court. The commission has been contacted for comment. Although the majority of the judges agreed, Justice James Edelman dissented and called on parliament to clarify the relevant section of the Electoral Act in relation to digital communication. Unless an amendment was made, he said, there would be a "radical change" in the digital equivalent of the treatment of a campaigner who committed 1000 contraventions by distributing as many pamphlets. "The political campaigner of today will commit only a single contravention by an electronic message transmitted and received by 1000, 10,000, 100,000 or 1,000,000 unique (social media) profiles," Justice Edelman wrote. Dr Laming retired from politics in 2022 after a series of controversies, including a $10,000 travel expenses scandal. Former Liberal MP Andrew Laming has won a High Court case against a $40,000 fine imposed over three illegal campaign messages posted on social media. He was the Liberal MP for Bowman, in southeast Queensland, when he posted on the "Redland Hospital: Let's fight for fair funding" Facebook page ahead of the 2019 federal election. The posts between December 2018 and May 2019 were found to have not been properly authorised with his name and area of residence, as required for political communication by candidates. Dr Laming was initially fined $20,000 by the Federal Court for three contraventions of federal election law. But the Australian Electoral Commission appealed, arguing the former MP contravened the law 28 times - equal to the number of people who saw the Facebook posts. The Full Court of the Federal Court agreed and doubled the fine to $40,000, so Dr Laming took the fight to the High Court. On Wednesday, the court ruled the contraventions occurred when the posts were created, rather than when they were seen. Dr Laming welcomed the decision as an end to the years-long legal tussle. "I'm satisfied with the result and I hope it will lead to a sensible conclusion of the matter," he told AAP. The electoral commission was ordered to pay Dr Laming's legal bill for his successful appeal to the High Court. The commission has been contacted for comment. Although the majority of the judges agreed, Justice James Edelman dissented and called on parliament to clarify the relevant section of the Electoral Act in relation to digital communication. Unless an amendment was made, he said, there would be a "radical change" in the digital equivalent of the treatment of a campaigner who committed 1000 contraventions by distributing as many pamphlets. "The political campaigner of today will commit only a single contravention by an electronic message transmitted and received by 1000, 10,000, 100,000 or 1,000,000 unique (social media) profiles," Justice Edelman wrote. Dr Laming retired from politics in 2022 after a series of controversies, including a $10,000 travel expenses scandal. Former Liberal MP Andrew Laming has won a High Court case against a $40,000 fine imposed over three illegal campaign messages posted on social media. He was the Liberal MP for Bowman, in southeast Queensland, when he posted on the "Redland Hospital: Let's fight for fair funding" Facebook page ahead of the 2019 federal election. The posts between December 2018 and May 2019 were found to have not been properly authorised with his name and area of residence, as required for political communication by candidates. Dr Laming was initially fined $20,000 by the Federal Court for three contraventions of federal election law. But the Australian Electoral Commission appealed, arguing the former MP contravened the law 28 times - equal to the number of people who saw the Facebook posts. The Full Court of the Federal Court agreed and doubled the fine to $40,000, so Dr Laming took the fight to the High Court. On Wednesday, the court ruled the contraventions occurred when the posts were created, rather than when they were seen. Dr Laming welcomed the decision as an end to the years-long legal tussle. "I'm satisfied with the result and I hope it will lead to a sensible conclusion of the matter," he told AAP. The electoral commission was ordered to pay Dr Laming's legal bill for his successful appeal to the High Court. The commission has been contacted for comment. Although the majority of the judges agreed, Justice James Edelman dissented and called on parliament to clarify the relevant section of the Electoral Act in relation to digital communication. Unless an amendment was made, he said, there would be a "radical change" in the digital equivalent of the treatment of a campaigner who committed 1000 contraventions by distributing as many pamphlets. "The political campaigner of today will commit only a single contravention by an electronic message transmitted and received by 1000, 10,000, 100,000 or 1,000,000 unique (social media) profiles," Justice Edelman wrote. Dr Laming retired from politics in 2022 after a series of controversies, including a $10,000 travel expenses scandal. Former Liberal MP Andrew Laming has won a High Court case against a $40,000 fine imposed over three illegal campaign messages posted on social media. He was the Liberal MP for Bowman, in southeast Queensland, when he posted on the "Redland Hospital: Let's fight for fair funding" Facebook page ahead of the 2019 federal election. The posts between December 2018 and May 2019 were found to have not been properly authorised with his name and area of residence, as required for political communication by candidates. Dr Laming was initially fined $20,000 by the Federal Court for three contraventions of federal election law. But the Australian Electoral Commission appealed, arguing the former MP contravened the law 28 times - equal to the number of people who saw the Facebook posts. The Full Court of the Federal Court agreed and doubled the fine to $40,000, so Dr Laming took the fight to the High Court. On Wednesday, the court ruled the contraventions occurred when the posts were created, rather than when they were seen. Dr Laming welcomed the decision as an end to the years-long legal tussle. "I'm satisfied with the result and I hope it will lead to a sensible conclusion of the matter," he told AAP. The electoral commission was ordered to pay Dr Laming's legal bill for his successful appeal to the High Court. The commission has been contacted for comment. Although the majority of the judges agreed, Justice James Edelman dissented and called on parliament to clarify the relevant section of the Electoral Act in relation to digital communication. Unless an amendment was made, he said, there would be a "radical change" in the digital equivalent of the treatment of a campaigner who committed 1000 contraventions by distributing as many pamphlets. "The political campaigner of today will commit only a single contravention by an electronic message transmitted and received by 1000, 10,000, 100,000 or 1,000,000 unique (social media) profiles," Justice Edelman wrote. Dr Laming retired from politics in 2022 after a series of controversies, including a $10,000 travel expenses scandal.
Perth Now
6 days ago
- Politics
- Perth Now
Former MP's win against $40,000 fine for Facebook posts
Former Liberal MP Andrew Laming has won a High Court case against a $40,000 fine imposed over three illegal campaign messages posted on social media. He was the Liberal MP for Bowman, in southeast Queensland, when he posted on the "Redland Hospital: Let's fight for fair funding" Facebook page ahead of the 2019 federal election. The posts between December 2018 and May 2019 were found to have not been properly authorised with his name and area of residence, as required for political communication by candidates. Dr Laming was initially fined $20,000 by the Federal Court for three contraventions of federal election law. But the Australian Electoral Commission appealed, arguing the former MP contravened the law 28 times - equal to the number of people who saw the Facebook posts. The Full Court of the Federal Court agreed and doubled the fine to $40,000, so Dr Laming took the fight to the High Court. On Wednesday, the court ruled the contraventions occurred when the posts were created, rather than when they were seen. However, Justice James Edelman dissented from the majority opinion and called on Parliament to clarify the relevant section of the Electoral Act in relation to digital communication. Unless an amendment was made, he said, there would be a "radical change" in the digital equivalent of the treatment of a campaigner who committed 1000 contraventions by distributing as many pamphlets. "The political campaigner of today will commit only a single contravention by an electronic message transmitted and received by 1000, 10,000, 100,000 or 1,000,000 unique (social media) profiles," Justice Edelman said. The electoral commission was ordered to pay Dr Laming's legal bill for the appeal to the High Court. The commission and Dr Laming have been contacted for comment. Dr Laming retired from politics in 2022 after a series of controversies, including a $10,000 travel expenses scandal.
ABC News
6 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Former Liberal MP Andrew Laming wins a High Court appeal over fines for three Facebook posts
Former Queensland Liberal MP Andrew Laming has won his High Court appeal against a $40,000 fine over three Facebook posts. He was accused of not properly identifying himself as a political candidate upon posting in the lead-up to the 2019 federal election. Andrew Laming was the LNP member for Bowman when he made the Facebook posts on a page he administered titled "Redland Hospital: Let's fight for fair funding". The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) went after Mr Laming for failing to provide the correct authorisation required of political candidates in political communication. Under Australian electoral laws, MPs are required to give details, including their name and location, on any material that is aimed at influencing votes. Mr Laming admitted the posts lacked the required authorisation, but contested whether some of them fell into the category of political communication. The original Federal Court judgment found some of the posts were clearly written by Mr Laming, having been signed by him, including a letter to a journalist, but others did not identify him as the writer or publisher. The judgment noted it was evident from the post "that Mr Laming was pretending it was posted by someone else", even referring to himself in the third person. In the end, the case was narrowed down to three posts and Mr Laming was fined $20,000. But the AEC appealed and the fine was doubled to $40,000. That was to reflect the fact that the posts had been viewed 28 times. Mr Laming took it to the High Court, describing the reasoning as counterintuitive, saying he only made the omission once on each post. The AEC said the purpose of the law was to deter breaches and protect the rights of voters to make an informed choice. The commission told the High Court that on Mr Laming's reasoning, any anonymous political publication would only result in a single contravention, no matter how harmful or wide-reaching it may be. But today the High Court ruled a line in the sand, saying there was a contravention each time the posts were published, not each time they were viewed. Mr Laming quit politics before the 2022 election after a series of unrelated controversies.
