A district court judge has been scathing about some of the recent coverage of legal matters, particularly in relation to cases involving rape allegations.
Lifting a suppression order on identifying Anthony Lister as the defendant in a rape trial who was acquitted of two counts of rape in October, Judge John Pickering said he did not believe identifying the Sydney artist would result in media reporting that suggested “men are getting off unfairly”. He said rather the weight tends to go “the other way”.
Pickering said there was “vastly more media” claiming men were falsely and unfairly put on trial by “overzealous prosecutors”.
In his judgment on Thursday, Pickering said criticism had been “unfairly” raised against the New South Wales director of public prosecutions, Sally Dowling SC, who has been accused by some judges of putting accused rapists on trial “for crimes that will never secure a conviction”, reported in a series of articles in the Australian.
He also referred to claims in the media that the former ACT director of public prosecutions Shane Drumgold, who resigned after an inquiry into his handling of the 2022 prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann, had prosecuted cases “without merit”.
Pickering also mentioned comments “aimed” at the ACT chief justice, Lucy McCallum, that alleged she had undermined the public’s confidence in the rule of law over comments about sexual assault trials.
Both Drumgold and McCallum have also been the subject of numerous articles in the Australian, although Pickering did not single out any publication by name.
Deck the halls, clear the land
Fresh from her pilgrimage to the US to see Donald Trump elected president, the mining billionaire Gina Rinehart has turned her attention to making Australia great for those she calls “the forgotten people”.
Rinehart has written a seasonal piece for the conservative magazine the Spectator headlined “All I want for Christmas is … to make Australia great”.
The “forgotten people”, in Rinehart’s eyes, are farmers who are not allowed to clear as much land as they like and those who work in northern Queensland and north-west Australia who have to pay tax.
She blames “too many government selected immigrants” for the housing, crime and hospital crises.
On her Christmas wishlist, “inspired by the president of Argentina”, is the removal of red tape to pave the way for Australians “to enjoy opportunities, higher living standards and tax cuts”.
“This would bring much Chrissie cheer for those struggling, and those working hard to support their families and save and build their businesses, i.e. all the forgotten people!” she wrote.
For good measure, the Hancock Prospecting executive chair called for the immediate release of all those in jail for illegal land-clearing and the opening of national parks for farmers and pastoralists to graze stock “as they used to”.
‘An open exchange of views’
A week after Sydney radio staff wrote an angry letter to the ABC board, the chair, Kim Williams, met a delegation to discuss their concerns.
After the meeting on Thursday, Williams told Weekly Beast the discussion was “constructive”.
“An open exchange of views occurred – one where issues and concerns were identified and frank responses were offered,” he said.
“I welcomed the professional focus of the discussion and the evident pride in the radio output and devotion to audiences evident throughout our discussion. I thought it was a useful session on both sides.”
As revealed by Guardian Australia, the group accused radio management of showing no understanding of the vital role of public broadcasting in recent decisions. Journalists said the decision to remove Sydney presenters Sarah Macdonald and Simon Marnie was made without consultation or explanation and had sparked a major audience backlash.
Macdonald took stress leave after announcing on air on 21 November that her contract had not been renewed, but returned to the station on Friday to say goodbye to listeners who had been asking where she was.
Macdonald said the reaction to her departure had been “utterly overwhelming” and she needed some time “to be silent”.
“I’ve really felt the love, but I needed to find my peace and my strength, and I just didn’t feel I could deliver a show that the listeners deserve and expect at the moment, but it’s lovely to be with you today,” she said.
Three weeks after the 2025 radio schedule was unveiled by the new director of audio, Ben Latimer, no replacement for Macdonald or Marnie has been named.
Hadley exits on a rollercoaster
Another radio star finishing up this week was 2GB’s Ray Hadley.
His final week was marred by an on-air apology but he was buoyed the next day by the release of his final ratings survey.
Hadley concluded his legendary 43-year career as No 1 in mornings, with a 13.7% share (up 2.6%). It was a relief because he had dipped to No 2 in his penultimate ratings survey, largely due to the period being affected by the Olympics.
“It is a fantastic way to finish my career and the year, and I was in a fairly, I guess, sombre mood when we were beaten, and then after I had time to think about it, I thought it was not a bad run, 20 years at No 1, and we got beaten,” Hadley told listeners on Thursday.
Spirits were not so high on Wednesday when Hadley had to deliver an apology to Robert Macaulay, who resigned as the chair of Greyhound Racing NSW after a bombshell report by the sport’s chief vet was made public alleging barbaric treatment of dogs.
“In May this year I was covering a story about greyhound racing and, as part of that, I made a number of comments about Robert Macaulay, who at the time was the CEO of Greyhound Racing NSW,” Hadley told listeners.
“New information has revealed a number of comments I made about Mr Macaulay to be incorrect.
“I now withdraw the incorrect allegations, and I apologise to Robert Macaulay for any hurt caused to him.”
Fresh fields
Two months after Andrew Webster, the former chief sports writer at the Sydney Morning Herald, took a redundancy, the Australian has picked him up as a columnist.
“I’m taking the redundancy loot and heading for the hills, unsure where or when I’ll stop, probably when I run out of petrol although most likely money,” Webster wrote in a farewell column in October.
The Australian said Webster’s columns in 2025 would “fuse news-breaking with astute analysis and world-class writing”.
Drive time
In the new year all Sydney ABC local radio staff will be expected to move to their new home in Parramatta, which will have its final official opening in February. With Sarah Macdonald and Richard Glover having departed the station, there are now very few broadcasters working out of the new purpose-built studio. James Valentine and Craig Reucassel currently have exemptions, allowing them to keep working from inner-city Ultimo.
With the heavy cost of road tolls for staff who live in the inner city, on the north shore or in the eastern suburbs to drive to Parramatta, management has been giving commuters a one-off payment of about $1,300 to soften the blow. Management also has to bear the cost of a taxi home at night, and while Ultimo has a large underground car park, Parramatta does not. So there are a few hurdles to get over before Parramatta is a viable option for all staff.
Wait, there’s more
As we head into the silly season there are still some big media stories to unfold.
The ABC is likely to announce a new managing director as soon as next week. In August, David Anderson suddenly resigned a year into his second five-year term after a 35-year career at the public broadcaster. In recent months Anderson has been on sick leave and the board has been conducting a global search for a new MD.
The former Nine chief executive Hugh Marks appears to be the frontrunner after the SBS chief, James Taylor, declined. If Senate estimates is any measure, SBS is a better job by far. While the ABC chief endures hours of tough questioning, SBS breezes in and out of the committee and rarely faces the same level of scrutiny.
The former 2GB and Sky News broadcaster Alan Jones is also due to make his first appearance in the Downing Centre local court in Sydney on Wednesday.
The media are expected to turn out in force to see the 83-year-old face 26 criminal charges including aggravated indecent assault, assault involving an act of indecency, sexually touching another person without consent and common assault.
Jones has not yet been required to enter a plea but has previously denied all allegations.
• Weekly Beast is taking a break over the holiday period and will return in January
• This article was amended on 12 December 2024. An earlier version stated Ray Hadley was No 1 in breakfast – the broadcaster was in fact No 1 in mornings.
