Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja has refused to take part in an interview with the sports broadcaster that axed journalist Peter Lalor earlier this year over his pro-Palestinian social media posts. 

SEN reportedly wanted to speak to the batsman after he made 47 runs on the first day of the West Indies Test match in Bridgetown, Barbados.

However, Khawaja declined to be interviewed by commentators Adam Collins and Bharat Sundaresan, with the Sydney Morning Herald saying anonymous sources claimed his decision related to SEN’s treatment of Lalor, who was let go in February following his posts about the situation in Gaza.

At the time, Khawaja spoke out in support of the journalist, describing him as “a good guy with a good heart”.

He wrote in an Instagram post that “Standing up for the people of Gaza is not antisemitic nor does it have anything to do with my Jewish brothers and sisters in Australia … it has everything to do with justice and human rights”.

The cricketer regularly posts about Gaza, most recently sharing an appeal from aid agency UNICEF seeking support for children injured during the ongoing conflict.

Khawaja has so far not commented on his refusal to do the SEN interview, but Lalor ­­– covering the Test for podcast Cricket et al – released a statement saying: “Usman is a man of principle whose support I valued greatly when I was dismissed and whose ongoing support I appreciate”.

On Wednesday, Lalor shared a post on X by fellow journalist Antoinette Lattouf. She was dismissed by the ABC at the end of 2023 after sharing her views on Gaza and this week won her unlawful termination case in the Federal Court.

In the post, Lattouf shared a photograph of herself and her lawyer Josh Bornstein with the words: “We stand up for worker’s rights. We stand up for press freedom. We stand up for human rights. We win.”

We stand up for worker’s rights.
We stand up for press freedom.
We stand up for human rights.
We win. @JoshBBornstein pic.twitter.com/xgSXW4Z4QE

— Antoinette Lattouf (@antoinette_news) June 25, 2025

Taxpayers face a $2 million-plus bill for the ABC’s failed legal defence of its decision to fire Lattouf, 41, who was awarded $70,000 in damages.

She was dismissed three days into a five-day casual radio shift in December 2023 due to a co-ordinated campaign of complaints from pro-Israel lobbyists. Lattouf had shared a Human Rights Watch post saying Israel was using starvation as a “weapon of war” in Gaza.

Associate Professor of Law Giuseppe Carabetta said the Federal Court’s decision was “groundbreaking” and gave clarity to employers about political opinions expressed by employees off-duty.

Senior ABC figures told a Senate hearing in February that the ABC tried to settle the Lattouf case on multiple occasions and had already spent $1.1 million on external lawyers to defend itself.

ABC managing director Hugh Marks indicated total costs were likely to soar beyond $2 million, with Justice Darryl Rangiah yet to determine whether the broadcaster will pay a penalty or Lattouf’s legal costs.

“It will be millions and it is not a good use of taxpayer funds,” Marks told ABC Radio Melbourne on Thursday morning.

“I would suspect so [more than $2 million] because I wasn’t completely aware as to where the trial will go but it sounds like there’s still more work to do.

“It would have been better if it settled. It would have been better if it hadn’t happened at all.”

Lattouf offered to settle the case for $85,000 in July but it was rejected, lawyer Josh Bornstein said. He said there were other conditions to the proposed peace deal, including an apology and another five radio shifts.

Rangiah found the ABC had unlawfully fired Lattouf for holding a political opinion.

Former Human Rights Watch head Kenneth Roth said the judgment was a vindication of Lattouf reposting a report that was “100 per cent accurate” and had already been covered by the ABC.

Roth said Lattouf did “nothing wrong” and he was amazed the ABC had spent so much money fighting the case, even if “undoubtedly embarrassed” at succumbing to external pressure.

“They’ve made a bad situation worse,” he told ABC Radio.

The case has reignited calls for a national human rights act.

“[This litigation] draws attention to the current lack of a constitutional right to freedom of speech in Australia,” Australian Lawyers Alliance spokesperson Greg Barns SC said.

-with AAP