THE BUG:
The Bug’s international editor Karen Farr-Wright (main picture) plans to launch an unfair dismissal action against the news website after being dismissed for breaching her employment contract.
A spokesperson for The Bug said Ms Farr-Wright’s employment had been terminated after she agreed without consulting editorial managers to a request from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to stand as a Liberal Party candidate at the next federal election due in 2025.
“Karen apparently also agreed to Mr Dutton’s request for her to recruit other members of her family to stand for the Liberal Party in 2025 but only if they shared her surname,” the spokesperson said.
“Apparently Mr Dutton rang Karen and told her he wanted as many Farr-Wrights as possible on the ballot paper come next polling day, and not just in Karen Andrews’ former seat of McPherson on the Gold Coast.
“Karen’s mistake – Karen Farr-Wright’s – was in not advising editorial executives of The Bug of the approach and of her agreement to become active in Liberal Party politics.
“Most troubling is her admission that she also committed to Mr Dutton to write blatant Liberal Party propaganda in her role as one of The Bug’s senior columnists.
“This is a clear breach of The Bug’s terms of employment for its reporting staff and specialist commentators as well as being a clear breach of accepted journalistic standards and ethics.
“After discussions with her The Bug’s management made the decision to terminate Karen’s employment as of this morning.
“This action was taken with a heavy heart but also in the interests of maintaining the editorial integrity of Australia’s, if not the southern hemisphere’s, favourite family news website,” the company spokesperson said.
Ms Farr-Wright confirmed her intention to seek compensation for alleged unfair dismissal.
“I can’t see anything wrong with what I did in agreeing to Peter Dutton’s requests, especially my commitment to write blatantly pro-Liberal Party stories and columns even if they are not supported by the facts,” she said.
“If it’s good enough for just about every columnist employed by News Crap Australia and most of those at Nine Entertainment Co., including the Herald mastheads, radio shockjocks and Channel 9, as well as the other free-to–air TV networks to write Liberal Party propaganda, why not me in my work for The Bug?
“That’s going to be a key argument in my unfair dismissal action,” she said.
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