Dear Simon and Hugh,
As ABC journalists, we see our responsibility to uphold a free press and the ABC’s integrity as a crucial foundation that underpins everything we do.
We also care deeply about ABC journalists’ ability to join their union, work collectively, and be represented by our elected leaders.
Those leaders must represent us not only on pay and conditions, but also on principles foundational to our work including press freedom.
We are deeply disappointed that the ABC has been considering disciplinary action against our colleague Michael Slezak, for writing a piece in the AFR arguing against policy changes that would restrict journalists’ rights to information.
We have elected Michael to lead our House Committee, and thousands of journalists across the country have elected him to lead our union. Championing our right to information is something we expect Michael to do, and be allowed to do without hindrance.
We see this as an attack on our right to work collectively through our union, a hinderance to our delegates doing the work they are legally entitled to do, and an obstruction to journalists in our industry fulfilling their duty to uphold and champion press freedom.
We call on you to:
- Commit to not taking any disciplinary action against Michael Slezak for writing the piece in the AFR.
- Recommit to the agreement he had with the ABC allowing him to engage in public comment on union matters without prior approval.
- Commit to respecting the rights of ABC journalists to unionise without hindrance.
If ABC management doesn’t agree to these requests, we will consider taking any collective action we deem necessary to help achieve these outcomes.
Signed,
Mitchell Abram
Teodora Agarici
Samantha Aishia
Alison Costelloe Alison
Sarah Allely
Nabil Al-Nashar
Andrew Altree-Williams
Julia Andre
Ria Andriani
Elyse Armanini
Kate Ashton
Ben Atherton
Michael Atkin
Robert Baird
Emily Baker
Clancy Balen
Meghna Bali
Ben Barber-Hays
Ashleigh Barraclough
Alicia Barry
Chris Bartlett
Laura Beavis
Renny Beazley
Ce Benedict
Julia Bergin
Eliza Berlage
Giulia Bertoglio
Jessica Black
Annika Blau
Monte Bovill
Jacinta Bowler
Declan Bowring
Sam Bradbrook
Elly Bradfield
Gemma Breen
Rudi Bremer
James Brennan
Aisling Brennan
Thomas Brettell
Alicia Bridges
Bridget Fitzgerald
Josh Brine
Fiona Broom
Oliver Brown
Matt Brown
Sally Bryant
James Bullen
Annika Burgess
Margaret Burin
Andy Burns
Joshua Byrd
Elizabeth Byrne
Danielle Cahill
Rory Callinan
Alana Calvert
Steve Cannane
Rachel Carbonell
Mary Card
Wendy Carlisle
Tim Carrier
Georgie Carroll
Mahalia Carter
Lucy Carter
Stephanie Chalmers
Max Chalmers
April Chan
Anna Chisholm
Andrew Chounding
Madi Chwasta
Tamara Clark
Mayeta Clark
Emily Clark
Rachel Clayton
David Coady
Paige Cockburn
Rachel Coffey
Oscar Coleman
Maddison Connaughton
Fleur Connick
Atlas Cook
Gavin Coote
Tamar Cranswick
Paul Culliver
Nicole Curby
Rebecca Cushway
Ivo da Silva
Tyrone Dalton
Ayla Darling
Rio Davis
Ashleigh Davis
Heidi Davoren
Peter de Kruijff
Killalea Debra
Winsome Denyer
Eddy Diamond
Avani Dias
Samantha Dick
Sebastian Dixon
Mark Doman
Amy Donaldson
Piper Duffy
Joshua Duggan
Samuel Dunn
Flint Duxfield
Kerry Dwyer
Celina Edmonds
Farrow-Smith Elloise
Simon Elvery
Raf Epstein
Marian Faa
Siobhan Fahey
Mary Fallon
Ellen Fanning
Julia Farrington
Julian Fell
Jordan Fennell
Gemma Ferguson
Daniel Fermer
Timothy Fernandez
Emma Field
Briana Fiore
Eliot Fish
Jack Fisher
Christine Flatley
Tessa Flemming
Loretta Florance
Michael Forno
Patrick Forrest
Liam Fox
Harry Frost
Courtney Fry
Brooke Fryer
Anthony Furci
Alisdair G. Bates
Isabella Garrido
Mary Gearin
Katherine Gillespie
Mia Ginnivan
Eliza Goetze
Declan Gooch
Jack Gow
Narelle Graham
Caitlyn Gribbin
Charlotte Grieve
Angus Grigg
Ellie Grounds
Emmy Groves
Shari Hams
Donna Harper
Nicola Harrison
Dan Harrison
Shaun Hassett
Nic Healey
Nicola Heath
Angela Heathcote
Lara Heaton
Toby Hemmings
Bronwyn Herbert
Olivia Hill-Douglas
Aoife Hilton
Claudia Hirst
Rhiannon Hobbins
Olivia Holmes
Patrick Honan
Kim Honan
Caroline Horn
Myles Houlbrook-Walk
Melinda Howells
Megan Hughes
Alexandra Humphries
Lewis Isaacs
Will Jackson
Russell Jackson
Alex Jae
Widia Jalal
Jack James
Michael Janda
Kara Jensen-Mackinnon
Kim Jirik
Daniel Johnson
Ruby Jones
Natalie Jones
Emma Jones
Ian Kain
Jessie Kay
Steve Kelly
Sophie Kesteven
Timu King
Maddy King
Charlotte King
Sky Kirkham
Dom Knight
Lily Kristanto
Alistair Kroie
Danielle Kutchel
Sophie Landau
Matthew Lane
John Lang
Adam Langenberg
Rebecca Latham
Simon Lauder
Jo Lauder
Jenny Lavelle
Ange Lavoipierre
Benjamin Law
Christine Layton
Kellie Lazzaro
Anna Levy
Jessica Longbottom
Rebekah Lowe
Sophie Ly
James Maasdorp
Saskia Mabin
Lucy MacDonald
Megan Mackander
Chloe MacKenzie
Angus Mackintosh
Leah MacLennan
Ursula Malone
Paddy Manning
Stephanie March
Gabriella Marchant
David Marr
Grace Marshall
Janine Marshman
Peta Martin
Joshua Martin
Francois Martin
Matt Martino
Nicholas Martyr
Olivia Mason
Zoey May
Andrea Mayes
Melissa Maykin
Catherine McAloon
Joanna McCarthy
Alex McDonald
Alexander McGhee
Pat McGrath
Jess McGuire
Scobie McKay
Kate McKenna
Patrick McKenzie
Grace McKinnon
Kathy McLeish
April McLennan
Som Meaden
Rachel Mealey
Shalailah Medhora
Leonie Mellor
Kirsti Melville
Isabella Michie
Daniel Miles
Adelaide Miller
Louise Milligan
Natasha Mitchell
Alice Moldovan
Nathan Morris
Julian Morrow
Tom Morton
Isabel Moussalli
Alice Mulheron
Bridget Murphy
Grace Nakamura
Matt Neal
Alister Newstead
Emily Nguyen-Hunt
Josh Nicholas
Elaenor Nield
Katie O’Neill
Petra Oates
Kaitlyn Offer
Clare O'Halloran
Megan Oliver
Tegan Osborne
Ellie Parnell
Grace Pashley
Susan Peacock
Emma Pedler
Fiona Pepper
Nic Perpitch
Victor Petrovic
Emma Pollard
Carmen Pratap
Kimberley Price
Eleni Psaltis
James Purtill
Bhakthi Puvanenthiran
Karla Ranby
Iskhandar Razak
Madelena Rehorek
Holly Richardson
Andrew Riddle
Thomas Roberts
Millie Roberts
Lauren Roberts
Georgia Roberts
Josh Robertson
Kristina Rosengren
Linda Ross
Hannah Ross
Olivia Rousset
Tim Roxburgh
Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop
Baz Ruddick
Gina Rushton
Anastasia Safioleas
Sivashneel Sanjappa
Girish Sawlani
Jack Schmidt
Tom Scott
Kellie Scott
Andrew Seabourne
Erin Semmler
Siddhant Sharma
Amy Sheehan
Adam Shirley
Luke Siddham Dundon
Kristian Silva
Stephanie Smail
Marty Smiley
Damian Smith
Belinda Smith
Katherine Smyrk
Rhiannon Soliman-Marron
Erin Somerville
Lara Sonnenschein
Guy Stayner
Sheridan Stewart
Hannah Story
Jeremy Story Carter
Sajarn Stow
David Stuart
Inga Stünzner
Joe Sullivan
Patrick Sunderland
Norman Swan
Teresa Tan
Maryanne Taouk
Claudia Taranto
Soofia Tariq
James Taylor
Nat Tencic
Emilia Terzon
Leonie Thorne
Cristen Tilley
Inga Ting
Harrison Tippet
Sam Tomlin
Jade Toomey
Alex Turner-Cohen
Alexandria Utting
Angus Verley
Ian Verrender
Paulina Vidal
Anna Vidot
Melanie Vujkovic
James Vyver
Ingrid Wagner
Liana Walker
Scout Wallen
Jason Walls
Liam Walsh
Airlie Ward
Dylan Welch
Jasper Wells
Ethan White
Rhiana Whitson
Jarrod Whittaker
Nick Wiggins
Mark Willacy
Evan Williams
Velvet Winter
Cindy Wockner
Nate Woodall
Michael Workman
Elizabeth Wright
Emma Wynne
Evan Young
Ahmed Yussuf
Daryna Zadvirna
Catherine Zengerer
Dan Ziffer