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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Paul Karp

Australian taxpayers paid $110,000 for federal ministers’ legal bills in last financial year

Scott Morrison Jane Hume Simon Birmingham Bruce Lehrmann Linda Reynolds Mark Dreyfus Michaelia Cash Holmes à Court Labor
Scott Morrison
Taxpayers were charged $4,122 to defend former prime minister Scott Morrison against a 2020 defamation claim. Photograph: Flavio Brancaleone/AP

Taxpayers have forked out $110,000 for federal ministers’ legal bills in the last financial year, including $4,000 to defend Scott Morrison against a 2020 defamation claim.

Documents tabled in parliament on Tuesday reveal taxpayers are on the hook for a pipeline of potential new cases, including former superannuation minister Jane Hume’s legal bills in a defamation stoush with Simon Holmes à Court.

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