- The Guardian
- Issue #2177
Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) members have condemned the vicious and specious attacks on cartoonist member Cathy Wilcox, and call on Nine Entertainment to stand by its Charter of Editorial Independence and support staff who face online harassment.
Wilcox’s cartoon “Grass roots” is a comment on the political motivations and power dynamics behind the push for a Royal Commission into the ISIS-inspired terrorist attack at a Jewish Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach on 14 December 2025.
Commentary and analysis is the job of journalists and cartoonists. People have the right to disagree with or dislike the commentary published by journalists.
Audiences taking offence at works of opinion or analysis cannot be a reason to silence legitimate political comment.
Cathy Wilcox is an award-winning cartoonist, one of the best Australia has ever produced. Her illustrated commentary is pithy, insightful and sensitive.
Her employers at Nine Entertainment failed in their duty of care by apologising for her work, calling it “divisive” and distancing themselves from the cartoon. MEAA demands Nine management demonstrates its commitment to backing staff when they are attacked for doing their job and demands that Nine management resist the pressure of coordinated lobbying campaigns.
The relentless, unfounded and coordinated attacks on Wilcox follow similar campaigns to silence journalists, artists and entertainers who have been critical of the Israeli government and its supporters since 2023 at the ABC, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Theatre Company, and elsewhere.
As the government now looks to further limit free speech through new hate speech laws, and seeks to regulate publicly funded broadcasters and arts institutions by implementing the Special Envoy’s Plan to Combat Antisemitism, MEAA members demand the principles of press freedom, and freedom of speech and artistic expression, be respected and heeded.
PARASITE OF THE WEEK: Carnival Cruises. Victorian union members have backed the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) campaign to end extreme exploitation on Carnival Cruises ships based in Australia.
MUA Organiser Shane Reside said, “Carnival Cruises is paying its crew as little as $2.50 an hour to work on its Australian cruise ships. It’s disgusting – this has got to be the worst labour exploitation we have ever seen, and it’s happening in plain sight.”
Carnival Cruises has three ships home-ported in Australia and exploits a loophole in the Coastal Trading Act flying workers in from some of the poorest economies on earth to work on short-term contracts sailing up and down the Australian coast. Workers have reported being made to work in excess of 10 hours a day for more than a month without a break, going for weeks trapped working below deck without seeing daylight.
Danae Bosler, Assistant Secretary at Victorian Trades Hall Council said “There is not a single ordinary Victorian who thinks that paying people $2.50 an hour to work in Australia is okay. This is such an extreme example of what billionaires will try and get away with if they think no one is looking. The Victorian union movement has a message for Carnival Cruises: if you think you can bring your ships of shame to Melbourne without a fight you’ve got another think coming.”
Adam Portelli, deputy CE from the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance says there are many Australian performers, musicians and backstage crew working on these ships alongside the international crew.
“We stand in support of our members’ and their co-workers rights – including fair compensation for their work and good working conditions – regardless of their country of origin. Taking advantage of any worker via a legislative loophole is unacceptable,” Portelli said.
Shane Reside noted, “Carnival has imported the labour conditions of Bali or Phuket to Australia but are still charging passengers Australian fares. Where does all that money go? Straight into the pockets of the multi-billionaire American owner. This is an ultra-profitable dirty racket, plain and simple.”
