BuzzFeed
News, 13 June
2019:
Channel Seven has failed
in its bid to strike out a lawsuit brought by a group of Aboriginal people who
say they were defamed during a now infamous panel discussion on breakfast TV
show Sunrise about adopting Indigenous children.
Yolngu woman Kathy
Mununggurr and 14 others from the remote community of Yirrkala, including
adults and children, are suing the TV network after they were depicted in
blurred overlay footage that played during the segment in March 2018.
In the discussion, hosted
by Samantha Armytage, commentator Prue Macsween said of the Stolen Generations
that “we need to do it again, perhaps”, and then-radio host Ben Davis said
Aboriginal kids are getting “abused” and “damaged”.
The comments made by the
all-white panel provoked protests outside the Sunrise studio in
Sydney's CBD.
Mununggurr and the
adults suing argue they were identifiable in the footage and that by playing it
during the discussion Sunrise had suggested they abused, assaulted or
neglected children, were incapable of protecting their children, and were
members of a dysfunctional community.
The children suing say
the program defamed them by suggesting they had been raped and assaulted, and
were so vulnerable to danger that they should be removed from their families.
The group is also suing
for breach of confidence and breach of privacy, as well as misleading and
deceptive conduct and unconscionable conduct under the Australian Consumer Law.
The TV network tried to
strike out all aspects of the lawsuit in a Federal Court hearing on Wednesday
afternoon, but was slapped down by Justice Steven Rares, who said all the
issues could and should be argued at trial…..
"This is about an
Aboriginal community. They’re all very close. The neighbours know each other,
they all know each other," the judge said.
"You’ve got a whole
community up there, most of whom will be able to recognise each other,
obviously some of whom who watch Sunrise, or whatever the show is called."…...
Rares accepted there was
an argument that Davis and the radio station 4BC were being promoted during the
segment, but was less convinced when it came to Macsween.
“To me she’s a nobody.
I’ve never heard of her and I’ve got no idea what contribution she possibly
could have made to the program,” he said.
Nonetheless Rares sided
with Catanzariti and declined to strike out the claim.
Seven's attempts to
strike out the remaining claims of breach of confidence, breach of privacy and
unconscionable conduct were similarly rejected.
Seven was ordered to pay
the costs of the hearing.
No comments:
Post a Comment