Nine forced to postpone big-ticket AFR summit amid journalist strike

The big-ticket event featuring senior politicians has been postponed due to threats striking journalists from Nine Newspapers would rally and protest over a pay dispute.

The Australian Financial Review has been forced to postpone a big ticket conference after journalists from Nine threatened to rally outside the venue as part of an ongoing industrial dispute.

Tuesday’s Government Services Summit was set to bring together Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, NDIS Minister Bill Shorten, and the newly minted Workplace Relations and Employment Minister Murray Watt, and the top brass of multiple government agencies.

Nine’s Managing Director of Publishing Tory Maguire, and senior editorial staff at the AFR were also slated to speak.

Similar events have cost hundreds of dollars for one ticket - a two-day 2023 Infrastructure Summit priced individual tickets up to $875.

Companies can also pay up to $13,650 for 12 individual passes and company-wide virtual access.

The Australian Financial Review has been forced to postpone a major summit featuring three senior government ministers. Picture: Supplied

Event organisers said the summit, which would have taken place at the Canberra Hyatt, was regrettably postponed “due to circumstances beyond our control”.

“We are working to secure a new date for the Summit in the near future and will confirm these arrangements as soon as possible,” read an updated message on the summit’s website.

Prior to the postponement of the event, Nine journalists affiliated with the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) had threatened to protest outside the venue, with the union organising transport from Sydney to Canberra.

A MEAA spokesperson lashed the conference as a major “cash cow” for the company, and said it was hypocritical given increasingly hostile enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations between staff and Nine’s senior management.

The union has called for a fair pay rise, protections against the use of artificial intelligence (AI), and a “genuine commitment” to workplace gender and cultural diversity.

As of Friday, journalists from several Nine-owned mastheads have been on a five-day strike amid increasingly tense EBA negotiations. Picture: NewsWire/ Simon Bullard.

The protest would have also coincided with the final day of a five-day strike taken by fuming staff from the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, WA Today, and the Brisbane Times, threatening the media company’s online and print coverage of the Paris Olympics.

“The AFR summit for Tuesday is a corporate exercise that brings in hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue for Nine publishing,” a MEAA spokesperson told NewsWire.

“Tickets are sold at very high prices and these events are seen as a cash cow for the company.”

“Our members were planning to hold a rally to expose the hypocrisy of a company that trades off the reputation of its quality journalism yet fails to invest in frontline journalism and is in fact planning to cut up to 90 jobs from its newsroom.”

A Nine spokesperson confirmed the summit was postponed “due to circumstances arising from the strike”.

“A new date will be announced in due course.”

The offices of Mr Watt, Mr Shorten and Ms Gallagher were also contacted for comment.