'It's not about money': Sacked Choppergate reporter just wants an apology

Melissa Mallet, the former Nine News Brisbane reporter sacked over the so-called 'Choppergate' scandal, says she only wants an acknowledgement from her former employer that she did nothing wrong.

Ms Mallet's Fair Work Australia hearing against the Nine Network continued in Brisbane today, with the reporter asserting she didn't know viewers were being misled over her location.

'It has never been about money'...sacked Nine News reporter Melissa Mallet says she just wants an apology from her former employer.

Ms Mallet's employment with the Brisbane-based newsroom was terminated five days after she reported breaking news in the search for the remains of missing Sunshine Coast schoolboy Daniel Morcombe live from the Channel Nine helicopter on August 20, 2011.

During her cross to the news studio, text was superimposed on the screen giving the helicopter's location as ''near Beerwah'' on the Sunshine Coast, where the search for Daniel's remains was being conducted.

It was subsequently revealed that the helicopter was hovering near the network's Mount Coot-tha studio in Brisbane.

At no time in Ms Mallet's report did she state she was near Beerwah.

But her termination came after a partial transcript of Ms Mallet preparing for her cross revealed conversations she had with producer Aaron Wakeley and other associated studio staff about their location.

According to the transcript, Ms Mallet said "they must be going to say we are near Beerwah" and laughed.

Giving evidence at the hearing today, Channel Nine Queensland managing director Kylie Blucher said she and Nine's director of news and current affairs, Mark Calvert, had conducted an investigation into the matter.

They had decided that while Ms Mallet did not deliberately mislead staff on her actual location, she had not done "enough to clear up the miscommunication or clarify her position".

Ms Mallet was then terminated for serious misconduct breaches.

Sandy Horneman-Wren, representing Channel Nine, told the hearing the network was within its rights to fire Ms Mallet under the Fair Working Act, given that "her action" led to the network's "breach of the commercial industry code".

But Ms Mallet asserted she thought her position was clear and had been concentrating on what she would say in her cross, not on the conversation happening in the studio.

"I felt I had done enough to make [the chopper's position] clear," she told the hearing.

Ms Mallet said she was no longer seeking re-employment with the Nine Network and was very happy with her new position as a reporter and producer for the Seven Network in Townsville.

She said she was taking this action against Nine as she still felt there was "a cloud" over her reputation, which could impact any future career aspirations.

Mr Horneman-Wren suggested Ms Mallet's "ability to have discussions with another network within a week of being terminated for serious misconduct" and subsequent hiring, with an annual salary $10,000 higher than her former job, meant her reputation had not been damaged.

Ms Mallet responded she had "had to pack up my entire life and move to Townsville" and that she believed the way the incident "played out" and how it was perceived, left doubts about her role in the matter.

Outside the tribunal, she told the media that she wanted "an acknowledgement, not even an apology" from Nine and that "it has never been about money".

While presenting her role to the tribunal, Ms Blucher admitted that she had not seen the full 52-minute video of Ms Mallet in the helicopter, or read a full transcript of the conversations between Ms Mallet and newsroom staff, until after Ms Mallet's termination. During the course of the full-length video, Ms Mallet says the helicopter was leaving Beerwah and "we're back".

But Ms Blucher said she had seen the lead-up to the "pertinent" parts between the studio and Ms Mallet, where Ms Mallet seemingly jokes about their intentions to say she is near Beerwah.

Ms Blucher said it had been the first time she had conducted an investigation of this nature, but she believed the investigation had been thorough.

The hearing is expected to continue at a later date.