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'People Feel Unsafe...,' Australian Journalist Dumped After Remarks Over Palestine

Arnav Chopra

Gideon Haigh (L) and Peter Lalor (R) (Source: @dudleyplatypus/X.com)Gideon Haigh (L) and Peter Lalor (R) (Source: @dudleyplatypus/X.com)

In what comes as massive news for the cricketing community, renowned Australian cricket journalist Peter Lalor has been fired by the radio network SEN midway through the Sri Lanka-Australia series. This news is likely to have a significant impact as Lalor was asked to go home midway through the duration of the first Test in Galle.

Why Is Peter Lalor Fired?

This all started when Lalor, who has been active on his social media, especially his X account, posted related to the Palestinian people who are under the captivity of Israeli forces alongside the attacks of Israel on Gaza.

However, this did not go down well with his current employer, SEN, whose chief executive, Greg Hutchison, informed him on the final morning of the first Test that the network no longer required him as people have objected to his posts.

Lalor is a freelance journalist who has worked for many prominent and famous media outlets like The Australian. He also worked as a commentator for Channel Seven, conducting podcasts and involving the people around cricketing news.

The statement released by Lalor on Monday night said he was called by two senior executives of SEN who informed him that he was no longer required. He further informed that there were people who objected to his statements and his posts on social media as he was labelled anti-Semitic. In addition to this, people have objected, saying that they feel unsafe listening to his voice. 

“I was told in one call there were serious organisations making complaints; in another I was told that this was not the case. Perhaps I misunderstood. I was told there were accusations I was anti-semitic which I strongly objected to. I was told my retweeting was not balanced, and insensitive to one side and that many people had complained.

I was asked by station boss Craig Hutchison, who was civil, if I didn’t care that my retweeting of events in Gaza made Jewish people in Melbourne feel unsafe,"

Moreover, it was also revealed by SEN that they have decided to part ways with him due to having different views on the impact of the matter, which the company takes very seriously. 

“The following day Hutchinson told me that because the ‘sound of my voice made people feel unsafe’ and that people are ‘triggered by my voice’, I could not cover the cricket for them anymore.”

Australia Takes 1-0n Lead Against Sri Lanka

Talking about the Sri Lanka Vs Australia series, the visitors won the first Test comfortably by a massive margin of an innings and 242 runs after putting up a mammoth total of 654 runs on the board, as they declared after losing six wickets.

In reply, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 165 in their first innings and then were asked to follow on, after which they could only manage 247 runs on the board. The second Test of the series will be played at Galle only from 6th to 10th February.