After five years as a radio presenter at Huon FM, Iris Richter was dismissed from the station in June this year following an interview she conducted with Isla MacGregor from Women Speak Tasmania.
The interview, which took place on 27 May 2026, concerned changes to the Sex Discrimination Act in 2013 and their implications for women’s-only spaces.
Iris Richter said:
“About a month after I interviewed Isla MacGregor on 27 May, I received an email informing me that I was dismissed from Huon FM and that I was not allowed to enter the radio station or contact anyone except for the Grievance Officer.
“In my four years serving on the Huon FM committee, three of which I was the Grievance Officer, at no time was any grievance dealt with in this unfair and perfunctory manner. All grievances involved consultation and warnings first, not immediate expulsion in absentia.
“Huon FM conducted an investigation without me while I was absent overseas and determined that I had ‘breached the Community Radio Broadcasting Codes of Practice (2025)’ and that the interview created a risk of community and reputational damage for Huon FM.
“Apparently, new policies had been introduced shortly before the interview, banning the previously common practice of sharing podcasts with interviewees and making them accessible to the public on our webpage. I was not made aware of these changes.
“Several other presenters have left the station since all our interviews are no longer kept on public record via the station website, but instead get flushed down the memory hole.
“I think these developments do not bode well for diversity of expression in Australia and freedom of speech on community radio.
“Membership has plummeted by nearly half since an excessive and restrictive policy overload has robbed volunteers of their interest in contributing their free time.
“WST is a locally originated and rapidly growing interest group nationwide, concerned with the
safety and well-being of women and girls. Why should their concerns get censored?”
Women Speak Tasmania also received an email from the Huon FM Board requesting that WST immediately:
- Remove the Facebook post dated 11 June 2026;
- Remove the interview recording, transcript and any extracts from its website and any other publications under its control;
- Remove all references associating Huon and Kingston FM Community Radio with the organisation or its advocacy; and
- Cease any further publication, distribution or promotion of the interview or associated material in any form or on any platform.
Dr Elizabeth Caballero, President of Women Speak Tasmania, said:
“Huon FM’s dismissal of Iris Richter and its censorship of Women Speak Tasmania’s interview are not isolated incidents in Tasmania’s media landscape.
“Media censorship has been ongoing since the passing of sex self-identification laws in Tasmania.
“Tasmanian media outlets continue to censor Women Speak Tasmania’s views on the Conversion Practices Prohibition Bill, despite numerous media releases and attempts by our organisation to contribute to public debate.
“With numerous groups opposing the Greens’ Conversion Practices Prohibition Bill because of its implications for freedom of speech, the dismissal of Iris Richter and the censorship of a radio interview with Isla MacGregor should be a wake-up call to members of Parliament.
“We need an open and transparent Parliamentary Inquiry into this flawed and extreme Bill.”
Women Speak Tasmania again calls on Premier Jeremy Rockliff to establish a Parliamentary Inquiry into affirmative care and conversion practices prohibition, and to ensure that no further inroads are made into freedom of speech or political communication in Tasmania.
ENDS
Media Contact:
Dr Elizabeth Caballero