Source : THE AGE NEWS
In this week’s On Background, the years of courtroom fallout from the Bruce Lehrmann saga continue, some big new hires ahead of Politico’s Australian launch, Karl Stefanovic’s next interview, and a strike averted at AAP.
Never-ending story
The Bruce Lehrmann saga is proving to have an exceptionally long tail.
It’s been over two years since Federal Court Justice Michael Lee dismissed the former Liberal staffer’s defamation claim against Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson, finding on the balance of probabilities that Lehrmann had raped his then-colleague Brittany Higgins in a ministerial suite.
Lehrmann lost his final bid to overturn that judgment (despite his denials of wrongdoing, and no criminal findings against him) in April. But the supporting characters who appeared on the fringes of that marathon case are still involved in endless legal dramas of their own.
Right now, those dramas centre on Taylor Auerbach, the former Seven producer whose bombshell evidence during the Lehrmann trial included claims that the network had paid for the former Liberal staffer’s cocaine and sex workers during a bid to secure an exclusive tell-all interview. Seven always denied that and insisted it “acted appropriately at all times”.
Nonetheless, the fallout from Auerbach’s court performance was devastating for Seven. The network’s Spotlight program was overhauled, with executive producer Mark Llewellyn out. Within weeks, chief executive James Warburton had brought forward his departure. Then the ABC’s Four Corners went to work on the network.
Last year, Auerbach sued the network for defamation, alleging that various statements provided to the media by Seven representatives blaming him for paying for Lehrmann’s cocaine and sex workers defamed him and breached non-disparagement clauses.
In response, Seven filed a cross-claim, accusing Auerbach of breaching contractual obligations of confidence. Here’s where things get messier. This year, Auerbach parted ways with his lawyers, Giles George, the firm started by defamation specialist Rebekah Giles, where he also briefly worked as a paralegal.
Now representing himself, Auerbach brought an application to strike out Seven’s cross-claim, accusing the network of contempt of court and seeking to subpoena Justice Lee, of Lehrmann fame, to appear in the matter. That was a long shot, to put it mildly. Judges don’t give evidence about their decisions.
Federal Court Justice Michael Wheelahan took a dim view of the application, ruling that compelling Lee to testify would “undermine judicial independence”. In fact, Wheelahan took a dim view of Auerbach’s entire claim, calling his accusations against Seven “difficult to understand”.
“The applicant has cast these allegations in a way that is strong on language but unsupported by evidence,” he said in a judgment delivered last week.
Auerbach has since filed an appeal against that judgment, taking umbrage at Wheelahan’s dismissal of his evidence.
“The applicant is an award-winning journalist whose expression and use of the English language has been commended at the highest levels of media and academia. The submissions are plainly logical and objectively easy to follow,” he wrote in his submissions.
This is not the end of it. Auerbach is also suing News Corp and several journalists at The Australian, accusing the paper of defamation and breaching the Racial Discrimination Act.
Those claims originate because, in the aforementioned Four Corners episode on cultural issues at Seven, Auerbach accused his former colleague Llewellyn of sending him antisemitic and offensive texts. Llewellyn’s denial, published in The Australian, forms the basis for Auerbach’s lawsuit, which is set for a preliminary hearing before Justice Robert Bromwich in the Federal Court on Friday.
Llewellyn, Giles, Auerbach, News and Seven all declined to comment. Litigation, after all, is contagious stuff.
Politico’s shopping spree
After Wednesday’s night’s Midwinter Ball blowout, the inmates of Parliament House, Canberra, are off for a well-earned rest until August.
When federal parliament resumes after the school holidays, there will be a new player in the Canberra bubble. Politico, the scoopy, gossip-heavy online outlet announced its Australian launch in February. It’s soon primed to unleash its Canberra Playbook, a local version of its wildly popular Washington, DC, newsletter beloved by insiders of the American political “swamp”, on the nation’s capital.
So far, we hear Politico doesn’t even have an office in the Press Gallery, where space remains at a premium, and is mulling the prospect of setting up outside Parliament House. It does, however, have a few staff already set to join. Paul Karp, NSW correspondent with our stablemates The Australian Financial Review, is set to take on an editor role.
It’s a warm welcome back to the bubble for Karp, who spent years in the gallery with The Guardian before departing as part of the turmoil that hit the publication’s Canberra bureau in 2024.
Also joining Politico is Finn McHugh, who is a political reporter with online site Capital Brief. As previously announced, Ryan Heath, a one-time Labor staffer who has held a variety of media and consulting roles in the United States and United Kingdom, will be the publication’s launch editor.
It comes at a big moment for Politico’s parent company, German-based Axel Springer, which just completed its $1.1 billion acquisition of storied British masthead The Telegraph.
Karl the culture warrior
Less than a week after being ousted from Nine after a softball interview with British far-right agitator Tommy Robinson, former Today host Karl Stefanovic was venting his spleen in a sympathetic chat with British broadcaster Piers Morgan. It contained plenty of grumbling as the pair bonded over their shared experiences getting punted from high-profile breakfast TV slots.
We also heard a little more about the future of Stefanovic’s independent podcast, which is sticking with its theme of British culture warriors for now. Next on the agenda is Rupert Lowe, founder of far-right party Restore Britain. That movement was born last year after Lowe fell out with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
One source of their disagreement: Tommy Robinson, the man who triggered Stefanovic’s Nine exit. Robinson is too odious even for Farage. Lowe would be happy to welcome him into the fold. Everything is connected, after all.
Stan-flation
More inflation has come to the streaming market as numerous popular services have upped their prices in the past 12 months.
This week, Stan, the streaming platform owned by Nine (also owner of this masthead) was the latest to quietly join them. A standard plan is up from $17 to $17.99, while Stan’s premium tier has gone from $22 to $23.99.
Any punters stung by the price hike need not fear. Stan has also unveiled a new $9.99 plan, down from $12. The catch? It has ads. The streamer is joining the likes of Netflix and Disney Plus in unveiling an ad-supported plan, and price rises.
“The changes give customers a broader range of viewing options while supporting our continued investment in premium entertainment, live sport, Australian storytelling and platform innovation,” a Stan spokesman said.
Struck off
On Background brought word last month that staff at the newswire AAP were feeling inspired by the ABC’s recent strike, and considering industrial action of their own after negotiations for a new pay deal appeared to be going nowhere.
Mercifully for management at the wire, that appears off the table after union members voted to accept an offer which included a 4.5 per cent pay rise in the first year and 3.5 per cent over the next two years. It also includes an undertaking by management to ensure pay band upgrades for some staff by September.
In a note to staff, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance said that while the offer was not everything they wanted, members “should be proud” of achieving a pay offer above the rate of inflation.
Union members voted – not unanimously, we’ll add – to recommend staff accept the offer, with formal voting on that front opening this week.
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Kishor Napier-Raman is a senior business writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Previously he worked as a CBD columnist and reporter in the federal parliamentary press gallery.Connect via X or email.
