Channel 10 sues former star Peter van Onselen

Network 10 is suing its former star political editor, Peter van Onselen, for an alleged breach of contract after he wrote a scathing column on its business prospects and management.

Sources familiar with the matter who weren’t authorised to speak publicly said the media company, owned by US entertainment giant Paramount, had asked for an injunction – or ban on certain conduct – in the NSW Supreme Court. Justice David Hammerschlag will hear the case on Monday.

Former Network 10 political editor Peter van Onselen faces a lawsuit from his one-time employer.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The subject of the injunction is unclear, but van Onselen’s piece in The Australian on May 29 took a hard look at Paramount’s plummeting share price and underperforming streaming business to question its implications for Network 10.

“The likes of Netflix, Disney and Warner are much bigger and better-established operators, doing better than Paramount [on streaming],” van Onselen wrote.

“It’s so concerning that Paramount’s biggest shareholder, Warren Buffett who owns 15 per cent of the business, has intimated that he doesn’t think streaming is the future for Paramount, unless scale can be brought to bear and quickly.”

Paramount’s shares are down 50 per cent this year and 85 per cent since their 2021 highs. In Australia, Network 10 – which Paramount bought out of bankruptcy – has been floundering as the third-place commercial network for years and struggling to find hit shows. Nine, one of its main rivals, is the owner of this masthead.

Though critical of 10 and Paramount, van Onselen’s comment bore little difference to a host of stories in The Wall Street Journal and publications around the world questioning the entertainment company’s performance.

Van Onselen and a spokeswoman for 10 declined to comment.

Van Onselen left Network 10 in March after four years to return to academia, with reports citing his exhaustion at having to travel to Canberra as the reason, but retained his column with News Corp.

During his time in Canberra, van Onselen lifted the network’s profile and broke stories including former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian calling then-prime minister Scott Morrison “horrible”, but also sometimes became the story himself.

Many employment contracts now claim clauses that bar workers from disparaging their former bosses when they leave a company.

The legal stoush between van Onselen and 10 is awkward considering Network 10 is also defending a claim from one of his former colleagues in the Parliament House bureau, Tegan George, who alleges she was subject to a hostile and demeaning workplace. The next hearing in that case is scheduled for October.

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