Former SBS newsreader had been accused by Zionist Federation of Australia of breaching Racial Discrimination Act when sharing X posts
Lisa Cox
Sat 12 Sep 2026
Federal court proceedings brought by the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) against journalist Mary Kostakidis have been discontinued “by consent” with “no order as to costs”.
The former SBS newsreader had been accused by the federation of breaching the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) by sharing two X posts about a speech by the late Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah in January 2024.
Last year, Kostakidis had asked the court to strike the proceedings out, arguing the claim failed to identify which race, ethnicity or nationality was offended by her social media posts about Israel.
The chief executive of the ZFA, Alon Cassuto, had alleged the breach came when Kostakidis shared a video of a speech by Nasrallah on X and added: “The Israeli govt getting some of its own medicine. Israel has started something it can’t finish with this genocide.”
Racial discrimination claim part of ‘deliberate campaign to discredit’ Mary Kostakidis, court documents allege
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A second post sharing the same video was also part of the claim. The complaint was first raised with the Australian Human Rights Commission but escalated to the federal court.
The court said on Friday that the case had been dismissed with the agreement of both parties.
Kostakidis said in a statement she had spent “two years doing nothing but preparing my defence in a case aimed at silencing me” and the discontinuation was a “win for every Australian who values our democratic right to freedom of political expression”.
“I want to thank my fellow Australians who recognised the significance of what we stand to lose, stood with me and stepped up to assist me to launch my defence,” she said.
“The purpose of journalism is to get to the truth – fearlessly – and to hold power to account. This is a win for press freedom, which has prevailed.
“Watching a people livestream their own genocide while the international community responsible for creating this mess offers the victims sympathy and the perpetrators bombs, diplomatic cover and impunity, has been disgusting.”
In a statement published on Friday, Cassuto said his objectives in bringing the proceedings had been “substantially satisfied” after a public apology by Kostakidis in 2025 for the “hurt, distress and pain” felt by Jews and Israelis in Australia who took her posts “as an endorsement”.
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“An important reason I brought this matter was to seek recognition of the harm these posts caused ordinary Jewish Australians,” he said.
“Given everything Ms Kostakidis has chosen to publish since her apology, a further apology compelled by a court would ring hollow.
“The issues that motivated me to bring this proceeding are being examined in the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion. The commissioner’s report will be handed down in December following a national examination of how antisemitism became so normalised in Australia.”
Cassuto added: “Ms Kostakidis can make her own accounting of her conduct. The Australian public can make theirs. I do not intend to spend another year taking Ms Kostakidis’ repugnant commentary from the dark corners of the internet and giving it a federal court platform in her pursuit of martyrdom. My job here is done.”
Federal court proceedings brought by the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) against journalist Mary Kostakidis have been discontinued “by consent” with “no order as to costs”.
The former SBS newsreader had been accused by the federation of breaching the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) by sharing two X posts about a speech by the late Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah in January 2024.
Last year, Kostakidis had asked the court to strike the proceedings out, arguing the claim failed to identify which race, ethnicity or nationality was offended by her social media posts about Israel.
The chief executive of the ZFA, Alon Cassuto, had alleged the breach came when Kostakidis shared a video of a speech by Nasrallah on X and added: “The Israeli govt getting some of its own medicine. Israel has started something it can’t finish with this genocide.”
Racial discrimination claim part of ‘deliberate campaign to discredit’ Mary Kostakidis, court documents allege
Read more
A second post sharing the same video was also part of the claim. The complaint was first raised with the Australian Human Rights Commission but escalated to the federal court.
The court said on Friday that the case had been dismissed with the agreement of both parties.
Kostakidis said in a statement she had spent “two years doing nothing but preparing my defence in a case aimed at silencing me” and the discontinuation was a “win for every Australian who values our democratic right to freedom of political expression”.
“I want to thank my fellow Australians who recognised the significance of what we stand to lose, stood with me and stepped up to assist me to launch my defence,” she said.
“The purpose of journalism is to get to the truth – fearlessly – and to hold power to account. This is a win for press freedom, which has prevailed.
“Watching a people livestream their own genocide while the international community responsible for creating this mess offers the victims sympathy and the perpetrators bombs, diplomatic cover and impunity, has been disgusting.”
In a statement published on Friday, Cassuto said his objectives in bringing the proceedings had been “substantially satisfied” after a public apology by Kostakidis in 2025 for the “hurt, distress and pain” felt by Jews and Israelis in Australia who took her posts “as an endorsement”.
after newsletter promotion
“An important reason I brought this matter was to seek recognition of the harm these posts caused ordinary Jewish Australians,” he said.
“Given everything Ms Kostakidis has chosen to publish since her apology, a further apology compelled by a court would ring hollow.
“The issues that motivated me to bring this proceeding are being examined in the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion. The commissioner’s report will be handed down in December following a national examination of how antisemitism became so normalised in Australia.”
Cassuto added: “Ms Kostakidis can make her own accounting of her conduct. The Australian public can make theirs. I do not intend to spend another year taking Ms Kostakidis’ repugnant commentary from the dark corners of the internet and giving it a federal court platform in her pursuit of martyrdom. My job here is done.”
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Racial discrimination claim part of ‘deliberate campaign to discredit’ Mary Kostakidis, court documents allege
This article is more than 9 months old
Former SBS newsreader defends sharing two X posts about a speech by the late Hezbollah leader as fair comment on a matter of public interest
Daisy Dumas
Tue 2 Dec 2025
Racial discrimination proceedings brought by the head of the Zionist Federation of Australia were “part of a deliberate campaign to undermine and discredit” Mary Kostakidis, court documents claim.
The former SBS newsreader has been accused by the ZFA of breaching the Racial Discrimination Act by sharing two X posts about a speech by the late Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah in January 2024.
The chief executive of the ZFA, Alon Cassuto, complained to the Australian Human Rights Commission but the matter was not resolved and was escalated to the federal court.
Cassuto’s claim says the breach came when Kostakidis shared on 4 January a video of a speech by Nasrallah and added: “The Israeli govt getting some of its own medicine. Israel has started something it can’t finish with this genocide.”
A second post sharing the same video on 13 January is also part of the claim. That post, which was reshared from another account, quoted from Nasrallah’s speech, saying: “Nasrallah’s message to Israelis: ‘If you want to be secure and safe, you have a US passport, go back to the US. You have a British passport, go back to the UK. Here you don’t have a future. From the river to the sea, the land of Palestine is for the Palestinian people only.’”
In her defence, filed in the federal court on Friday, the journalist and commentator claims the “proceeding has been instituted as part of a deliberate campaign to undermine and discredit the Respondent, a prominent Australian who, since 7 October 2023, has questioned and been critical of the conduct of the State of Israel in order to cause a chilling effect on her and others in relation to the same”.
In an amended statement of claim filed in October, Cassuto claimed a vast majority of Jewish Australians consider themselves to be Zionist and feel a personal connection to the state of Israel, and that the 13 January post was likely to offend Jewish Australians and/or Israeli Australians.
Cassuto was asked to file the amended claim after Kostakidis submitted that the Racial Discrimination Act claim was so imprecise and ambiguous about Jewish people and citizens of Israel it could include “Arab ethnicity in the case of an Arab person who follows the Jewish faith” or “a Jewish person who is ethnically Swedish”.
In her defence, Kostakidis claims the term “‘Zionist’ is not defined and may bear a range of meanings”, and that “Zionism is a political philosophy or ideology and not a race or an ethnic group”.
She submitted that parts of Cassuto’s claim were “embarrassing” in that they were not based in material fact.
Cassuto said he was “offended and insulted” by the 4 January post – a submission Kostakidis disputed, arguing he did not complain about either of the posts until 14 July 2024, nor did he ask for either of the posts to be removed. Further, she argued, not only did he not file his complaint with the commission until six months later, but the ZFA held a press conference before filing the complaint.
“If … the Applicant felt offended and insulted by the post, that reaction was extreme or atypical and should be disregarded,” the defence documents state.
Kostakidis submits the 4 January post was a fair comment on a matter of public interest and was an expression of a genuine belief, and denies her 13 January post was made because of the race or national or ethnic origin of Jewish Australians.
The parties are scheduled to have a case management hearing before Justice Andrew McDonald on 18 December in the federal court in Melbourne.
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Racial discrimination claim part of ‘deliberate campaign to discredit’ Mary Kostakidis, court documents allege
This article is more than 9 months old
Former SBS newsreader defends sharing two X posts about a speech by the late Hezbollah leader as fair comment on a matter of public interest
Daisy Dumas
Tue 2 Dec 2025
Racial discrimination proceedings brought by the head of the Zionist Federation of Australia were “part of a deliberate campaign to undermine and discredit” Mary Kostakidis, court documents claim.
The former SBS newsreader has been accused by the ZFA of breaching the Racial Discrimination Act by sharing two X posts about a speech by the late Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah in January 2024.
The chief executive of the ZFA, Alon Cassuto, complained to the Australian Human Rights Commission but the matter was not resolved and was escalated to the federal court.
Cassuto’s claim says the breach came when Kostakidis shared on 4 January a video of a speech by Nasrallah and added: “The Israeli govt getting some of its own medicine. Israel has started something it can’t finish with this genocide.”
A second post sharing the same video on 13 January is also part of the claim. That post, which was reshared from another account, quoted from Nasrallah’s speech, saying: “Nasrallah’s message to Israelis: ‘If you want to be secure and safe, you have a US passport, go back to the US. You have a British passport, go back to the UK. Here you don’t have a future. From the river to the sea, the land of Palestine is for the Palestinian people only.’”
In her defence, filed in the federal court on Friday, the journalist and commentator claims the “proceeding has been instituted as part of a deliberate campaign to undermine and discredit the Respondent, a prominent Australian who, since 7 October 2023, has questioned and been critical of the conduct of the State of Israel in order to cause a chilling effect on her and others in relation to the same”.
In an amended statement of claim filed in October, Cassuto claimed a vast majority of Jewish Australians consider themselves to be Zionist and feel a personal connection to the state of Israel, and that the 13 January post was likely to offend Jewish Australians and/or Israeli Australians.
Cassuto was asked to file the amended claim after Kostakidis submitted that the Racial Discrimination Act claim was so imprecise and ambiguous about Jewish people and citizens of Israel it could include “Arab ethnicity in the case of an Arab person who follows the Jewish faith” or “a Jewish person who is ethnically Swedish”.
In her defence, Kostakidis claims the term “‘Zionist’ is not defined and may bear a range of meanings”, and that “Zionism is a political philosophy or ideology and not a race or an ethnic group”.
She submitted that parts of Cassuto’s claim were “embarrassing” in that they were not based in material fact.
Cassuto said he was “offended and insulted” by the 4 January post – a submission Kostakidis disputed, arguing he did not complain about either of the posts until 14 July 2024, nor did he ask for either of the posts to be removed. Further, she argued, not only did he not file his complaint with the commission until six months later, but the ZFA held a press conference before filing the complaint.
“If … the Applicant felt offended and insulted by the post, that reaction was extreme or atypical and should be disregarded,” the defence documents state.
Kostakidis submits the 4 January post was a fair comment on a matter of public interest and was an expression of a genuine belief, and denies her 13 January post was made because of the race or national or ethnic origin of Jewish Australians.
The parties are scheduled to have a case management hearing before Justice Andrew McDonald on 18 December in the federal court in Melbourne.
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<사건 개요 및 핵심 쟁점>
호주 시온주의자 연맹(ZFA)의 대표 알론 카수토(Alon Cassuto)가 전 SBS 뉴스 앵커이자 언론인인 메리 코스타키디스(Mary Kostakidis)를 상대로 제기한 인종차별금지법(RDA) 위반 소송이 양측 합의(by consent) 및 비용 청구 없음(no order as to costs) 조건으로 종결되었다
카수토 측은 코스타키디스가 2024년 1월 헤즈볼라 지도자 하산 나스랄라의 연설 영상을 공유하며 이스라엘 정부의 가자 지구 군사 행동을 비판한 게시물이 호주 내 유대인 및 이스라엘인을 모욕하고 인종차별금지법을 위반했다고 주장했다
<평론: 법적 수단을 통한 비판 봉쇄 시도와 표현의 자유의 경계>
정치적 이념 비판과 인종차별의 혼동 문제 이번 소송의 가장 핵심적인 법적 논점은 시온주의라는 특정 국가 정책 및 정치 이념에 대한 비판을 특정 인종이나 민족에 대한 차별적 증오 발언과 동일시할 수 있는가였다
. 코스타키디스 측의 지적대로 시온주의는 정치적 지향이며, 특정 국가의 군사 행위나 정부 정책에 대한 비판을 인종주의로 확장 해석하는 것은 비판적 공론장을 심각하게 왜곡할 위험을 내포한다 . 만약 이러한 확장이 법적으로 인정되었다면 국가 정책 비판 전반이 법적 제재의 대상이 되는 위험한 선례가 되었을 것이다. 전략적 봉쇄 소송(SLAPP) 성격과 위축 효과 코스타키디스가 밝혔듯, 2년이라는 긴 시간 동안 막대한 자원과 노력을 들여 법적 방어를 준비해야 하는 과정 자체가 개인 언론인에게는 거대한 압박으로 작용한다
. 사건이 법원 판결까지 가지 않고 합의 종결된 것은 결과적으로 피고의 법적 패소를 피하게 했으나, 소송 제기 과정 자체만으로도 다른 언론인이나 비판적 시민들에게 강력한 위축 효과를 주는 효과를 이미 낳았다 . 결말의 정치적 해석과 갈등의 지속 ZFA 측은 소송 취하를 밝히면서도 코스타키디스가 과거 표명했던 유감 입장을 승리의 명분으로 내세우며 반유대주의 왕립위원회 조사 등을 언급했다
. 반면 코스타키디스는 이를 언론의 자유와 민주적 정치 표현의 승리로 선언했다 . 결국 본질적인 법리적 판결 없이 합의 취하로 마무리됨으로써, 표현의 자유와 소수자 혐오 방지라는 두 가치 사이의 경계 설정에 대한 제도적 기준은 여전히 미완의 과제로 남게 되었다 .
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