CA says Williamson, who was fired after campaigning for abortion services, rejected new job

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The high-profile case of a woman sacked by Cricket Australia after she used social media to criticise the Tasmanian government over a lack of abortion services is headed to court, her lawyer says.



Kamal Farouque of Maurice Blackburn said Angela Williamson would take her fight to the federal court after a conciliation hearing at the Fair Work Commission on Friday failed.

“Angela Williamson spoke out about women’s access to abortion in Tasmania, and she lost her job. That should never have happened,” Farouque said in a statement.

“We will now continue the case in the federal court to determine that she should not have lost her job for expressing a political opinion.”

Williamson, who is demanding her job back as a government relations officer at Cricket Tasmania, was dismissed from the role in June over a series of tweets that were critical of the state government’s position on abortion services.

“I spoke my mind on a political issue because I believe strongly in the reproductive health rights of Tasmanian women,” she said in a statement on Friday.

“I am disappointed the case didn’t resolve today, but I am prepared to continue my fight in the federal court.”

Cricket Australia was contacted for comment after the hearing.

Before the hearing the chief executive of Cricket Australia, James Sutherland, said Williamson had been offered another job as communications manager but had declined.

“Ms Williamson won’t be returning to CA, as the organisation is standing by its decision in late June to dismiss Ms Williamson after she published disparaging comments in social media, rendering her Tasmanian government relations manager role untenable,” a statement said.

Farouque said Williamson rejected the offer, which was made two weeks ago, because it “was not the same position as she had been dismissed from”.

Cricket Australia accused of sacking woman for abortion rights tweets Read more

Williamson’s case has also sparked controversy in Tasmania politics, after she claimed the Tasmanian health minister, Michael Ferguson, had revealed to CA that she had once had a termination. Williamson has said she was one of the first women in Tasmania forced to fly to Melbourne to have an abortion. Ferguson and the state government deny leaking her personal details.

Ferguson on Friday released a statement saying he had been contacted by Cricket Tasmania’s chief executive, Nick Cummins, concerned about the impact of Williamson’s comments on government relations at the time, but that he had reassured him they could continue working positively together.

Williamson is a former Tasmanian government adviser and had told the premier, Will Hodgman, of her situation while campaigning for better access to abortion services in the state.

Tasmanian Labor referred Ferguson to the police, who on Thursday confirmed they would not be pursuing an investigation.

Ferguson welcomed the police findings.

Gina Rushton (@ginarush) Tasmanian health minister just released this on Cricket Australia abortion tweet dismissal: says Williamson shared her story with BuzzFeed and identified herself as the former staffer on Twitter in March and so, Ferguson says, he can't be accused of disclosing private information pic.twitter.com/ktdSOO3RL9

He stated again that he did not pass on private medical information, that he knew of Williamson’s personal experience because of what she had put into the public domain on Twitter, and that he made no attempt to influence her employment status.

Ferguson said Cummins had contacted him concerned he would interpret Williamson’s comments as an attack on him by CA, but that he said at the time he was used to public criticism and was happy to “forgive and forget”.

“In fact, I asked Mr Cummins to understand that the government was unreservedly willing to keep working positively with Cricket Australia/Tasmania and was not seeking any apology from Ms Williamson,” he said in a statement.