Network backs Lisa Wilkinson as lawyer hired after Logies speech

The fallout from Lisa Wilkinson’s Logie Awards speech continues with a flurry of media stories, including the hiring of Matthew Collins, president of the Australian Bar Association, as her lawyer.

Yesterday Collins appeared on Sunrise where the possibility of contempt of court charges was raised.

“It’s certainly possible that the authorities will be looking at the speech that she made to the Logies and assessing that against the standard which applies in this branch of the law,” he told Seven.

A 10 spokeswoman told The Australian the network “fully supports Lisa Wilkinson” and confirmed the engagement of Dr Collins to represent both the presenter and the network.

“Both Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson take their legal obli­gations very seriously, including in the preparation and delivery of her speech given at the Logies event,” she said. “In light of the continuing proceedings, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”

Last year Wilkinson had also tweeted, “Naming the man on social media & passing judgement could have dire consequences for the outcome of any trial.”

This week ACT Supreme Court Justice McCallum said she was reluctantly putting off the trial following the speech amid concerns it risked the chances of a fair trial.

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On Thursday, The Age reported Network 10 declined to say if the undertakings had been given but said in a statement some media organisations’ recent reporting on Wilkinson had been “inaccurate and unfair”.

“This reporting is now causing significant harm and we ask these organisations to cease this harassment to allow Lisa the best opportunity to give her evidence in court and to enable the trial to go ahead in a fair and timely manner,” a spokesperson said.

Justice McCallum today set a new trial date of October 4.

Peter Ford reported that the speech was approved by network legal advisors but this has not been confirmed.