Jacinda Ardern has joined 114 writers in withdrawing from Adelaide’s Writers’ Week following the removal of Palestinian-Australian writer and speaker Randa Abdel-Fattah from the lineup.
The former New Zealand Prime Minister was due to appear at the high-profile literary festival to be interviewed by ABC Reporter Sarah Ferguson – who has also withdrawn from the event scheduled in February.
Jacinda Ardern was Prime Minister in March 2019 when an Australian gunman killed 51 Muslims during Friday prayers at two Christchurch mosques. Her swift action to ban most semi-automatic weapons became a defining moment of her leadership.
A spokesperson for the festival has confirmed the news, as Abdel-Fattah’s lawyer says her removal from the lineup by the Adelaide Festival Board was “morally indefensible”.
Abdel-Fattah was scheduled to appear on a panel discussing her latest novel, Discipline, in conversation with Richard Buckham.
On Thursday, the board announced that they removed the author from their program following the “national grief” and “community tensions” triggered by the Bondi shooting last month.
“Whilst we do not suggest in any way that Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah’s or her writings have any connection with the tragedy at Bondi, given her past statements we have formed the view that it would not be culturally sensitive to continue to program her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi,” the board said in their statement.
Three Adelaide Festival board members and chair Tracey Whiting quit their jobs over the weekend, following the board’s decision to remove Abdel-Fattah, which was criticised as they did it without notifying the event’s director, Louise Adler, or her team.
Michael Bradley, the lawyer defending Abdel-Fattah, said the “moral indefensibility of the Adelaide Festival board’s actions has been amply evidenced by the reaction it’s provoked”.
“It also trampled on Randa’s human rights, and the board will have to answer for that,” he added.
In a letter to Whiting on Sunday, Bradley wrote: “it appears … that the board’s decision to exclude Dr Abdel-Fattah was made because of ‘past statements’ made by her”.
“As a matter of basic procedural fairness to Dr Abdel-Fattah, please identify with specificity each of the past statements made by her on which the board relied in making its decision,” he continued.
“Please ensure that your organisation and each individual member of the board retains all documents in their possession … that relate to the decision to exclude Dr Abdel-Fattah.
“You are each now on notice that these documents may be required for the purpose of litigation.”
Whiting announced her resignation on Sunday, saying that “recent decisions were bound by certain undertakings and my resignation enables the Adelaide Festival, as an organisation, to refresh its leadership and its approach to these circumstances”.
The board has made no public comment since the announcement of Abdel-Fattah’s removal from the lineup of speakers.
In a statement, Adelaide Festival Corporation executive director Julian Hobba said the festival was “navigating a complex and unprecedented moment” and would share further updates.
Former Adelaide Writers’ Week director Jo Dyer said that only three voting members remained on the board, and that they no longer had a quorum.
Premier Peter Malinauskas said he is legally unable to direct the board, but added that when asked for his opinion, he made it clear “the state government did not support the inclusion of Dr Abdel-Fattah on the Adelaide Writers’ Week program”.
Federal Arts Minister Tony Burke has also shared his opinion saying that “we leave those decisions to the festivals themselves”.
“We don’t tell festivals who they should put on and who they shouldn’t,” he said.
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