Peter Van Onselen is being sued by his former employer, with Network 10 reportedly taking him to court for an alleged breach of contract.
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Quoting sources familiar with the matter who aren’t authorised to speak publicly, The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that Van Onslen – former host of The Project and the network’s former political editor – is being taken to the NSW Supreme Court as Paramount-owned Network 10 asks for an injunction.
The masthead reports that Justice David Hammerschlag is set to hear the case on Monday.
As it stands, it is unclear what, exactly, the injunction has been requested over. Speculation is that it is in relation to Van Onslen’s May 29 column in The Australian titled Paramount woes raise questions about the long term viability of Network 10. In it, he writes that “Paramount’s share price has plummeted more than 30 per cent in the past month, down more than 50 per cent in just a year.”
He also touched on the streaming landscape, writing that “The likes of Netflix, Disney and Warner are much bigger and better established operators, doing better than Paramount.”
In March this year, Van Onselen announced that he was leaving the network to return to academia, in a full-time role as a professor in politics and public policy at the University of Western Australia. He had been with Network 10 since December 2018.
During his time with 10, van Onselen led coverage on two federal elections and, from 2020, was co-host of The Project, where he provided daily political news.
At the time of his departure, Van Onslen indicated that while his focus would be on academia, he would continue writing his political columns at The Australian, where he has been contributing editor since 2009.