Nine Entertainment apologises to Indigenous activist Stephen Hagan for racial slur

Aboriginal activist Stephen Hagan has reached a settlement with Nine Entertainment over false claims that he alleges were designed to stir racial tensions.

Stephen Hagan: ‘I’ll always legally challenge those who wish to trample my inalienable rights of liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ Picture: Shae Beplate

An Aboriginal activist has reached a settlement with Nine Entertainment and now plans to take the Daily Mail and One Nation to the Federal Court over a series of stories published in 2020 that he alleges were designed to stir racial tensions.

Stephen Hagan filed a racial discrimination complaint with the Human Rights Commission in March over stories published in the Daily Mail and followed up on Nine’s flagship morning show, Today, which said he was campaigning to have the name of Paul’s “Smarter White Milk” changed after successfully getting Cheer Cheese renamed over racial connotations. The activist alleges he repeatedly asked both publications to remove the “false claims” but no immediate action was taken. He said he was racially vilified and received death threats as a result of the stories, which he believed deliberately misrepresented him in an attempt to stir racial passions.

Today issued an apology to Dr Hagan on the show’s Facebook page last week as part of a settlement achieved in mediation earlier this month.

“On 4 August 2020, TODAY published a post on this Facebook page stating that Dr Stephen Hagan was campaigning for Paul’s to re-name its product, ‘Smarter White Milk’,” the social media post read.

“Since publishing that post, TODAY has become aware that Dr Hagan was not involved in any such campaign. TODAY sincerely and unreservedly apologises to Dr Hagan for the post.”

The post must stay online for at least 28 days with comments turned off. The media organisation also reached a monetary settlement with Dr Hagan. The exact amount is unconfirmed but the activist was initially seeking $250,000 in compensation.

Dr Hagan was unable to comment directly on the Nine settlement due to a confidentiality agreement.

Conciliation with Daily Mail Australia could not be reached, with the publication’s legal representatives claiming they did not have a case to answer.

Dr Hagan also attempted to mediate with Pauline Hanson’s One Nation over social media posts referring to the stories. However, lawyers for the party advised the commission that they were not prepared to enter any form of conciliation as they believed the complaint did not have merit.

Stephen Hagan successfully campaigned to have Coon Cheese renamed. Picture: Lenn Campbell

These matters will now proceed to the Federal Court, with the activist to be represented by Brisbane lawyer Peter Black and prominent Sydney barrister Kieran Smark, who previously represented broadcaster Erin Molan in her successful defamation action against the Daily Mail.

“I am looking forward to my day in court with the Daily Mail and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party to let them know the harm their actions of publishing mistruths can be on a social justice advocate in this country,” Dr Hagan said.

He said media organisations had a duty of care as responsible businesses to be impartial, objective, balanced, unbiased and publish work in the public interest.

“When they cross the line by inciting their followers with fake news, that is when they need to be made accountable,” Dr Hagan said. As a result of the stories about Paul’s Smart White Milk, Dr Hagan received numerous death threats that were forwarded to Queensland and NSW Police to investigate.

“It is a scary space to be taking on the might of big organisations with unlimited resources,” he said.

“Many people paved the way for me to fight for social justice and I want to do the same. We don’t want to be deterring the next generation of activists.

“I’ll always legally challenge those who wish to trample my inalienable rights of liberty and the pursuit of happiness and I implore all First Nations people to do likewise.”