Palestinian Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah says her lawyers have threatened defamation proceedings against South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas, escalating a fast-moving controversy that has already detonated the state’s flagship literary event. Abdel-Fattah’s scheduled appearance at Adelaide Writers’ Week was cancelled last week — a decision that sparked widespread backlash, a wave of author withdrawals, and the resignation of senior figures connected to the festival.

In a social media statement, Abdel-Fattah said her lawyers issued a concerns notice to the premier under Australia’s defamation framework, describing his public remarks about her as a “vicious personal assault”. A concerns notice is typically an early legal step that gives the recipient an opportunity to respond, clarify, correct, or retract statements before a matter proceeds further. (For a full explainer of how the controversy unfolded, see our backgrounder: Adelaide Writers’ Week walkout explainer.)

What Abdel-Fattah alleges

Abdel-Fattah said the premier made multiple public statements about her character following the decision to remove her from the program, despite the pair never having met. She wrote that Mr Malinauskas had not attempted to contact her directly and that his comments had caused distress and reputational harm.

Her statement said the concerns notice is intended to provide an opportunity for the premier to “undo some of the harm” and stop “punching down”. While Abdel-Fattah has framed the action as a necessary response to repeated public commentary, the premier has maintained his remarks are “on the public record” and motivated by compassion and civility.

The remark that intensified the backlash

The legal threat follows comments Mr Malinauskas made at a press conference on Tuesday, where he asked reporters to imagine a scenario involving extremist violence to illustrate why he would not support a person he viewed as promoting hateful rhetoric being given a platform at Writers’ Week. He argued he would not support a hypothetical far-right figure speaking hatefully toward Muslim people — and said he would not support what he described as the reverse occurring in this situation.

The comments became a flashpoint because critics say they effectively cast Abdel-Fattah as an extremist — a characterisation she strongly rejects. Supporters argue that language from the state’s highest elected official carries outsized weight and can significantly damage a private citizen’s reputation. The premier, however, has said his remarks reflect his values around decency and public compassion.

Related reading: Adelaide Writers’ Week cancelled as author backlash grows

How Adelaide Writers’ Week unravelled

Abdel-Fattah’s removal from the Adelaide Writers’ Week line-up quickly spread beyond a programming dispute and into a broader cultural and political storm. Following the decision, dozens of writers withdrew in protest and at least one sponsor reportedly pulled support. Within days, multiple board members resigned, including the chair, as pressure mounted on festival leadership to explain how the decision was made and why it was handled publicly.

The festival’s director also resigned, and the number of participants pulling out reportedly rose above 180 — a scale that made the event’s continuation untenable. What might have been a contained controversy became a full institutional crisis, with competing arguments about safety, public rhetoric, artistic freedom, political pressure and the responsibilities of cultural organisations.

What a “concerns notice” means

In Australian defamation matters, a concerns notice generally sets out the allegedly defamatory imputations (the damaging meanings claimed to arise from the publication) and requests remedial action. That remedial action can include a correction, clarification, apology, or removal of material — depending on what is being sought. While not every concerns notice ends in court, it is often a serious step toward litigation when parties cannot resolve a dispute.

Readers wanting to understand the legal framework can refer to the AustLII database, which publishes Australian legislation and case law, including state-based defamation Acts.

Premier: “People can judge my remarks”

Speaking publicly after the dispute escalated, Mr Malinauskas said he was not aware whether he had received a concerns notice, but emphasised that his comments were made in a spirit of compassion and that the public could judge his words for themselves. He also said the board’s decisions were made independently — though he acknowledged the wider fallout had been unfortunate.

The premier’s emotional appearance in front of reporters during the week underscored how politically charged the issue has become, with questions extending beyond the festival and into broader debates about discrimination, public commentary, and the responsibilities of elected leaders when discussing private citizens.

What happens next

The next step depends on whether the premier responds to the concerns notice in a way Abdel-Fattah’s legal team considers adequate. If the parties cannot resolve the dispute, the matter could progress toward formal defamation proceedings — raising wider questions about political speech, power imbalances, and the point at which public criticism becomes legally actionable.

In the immediate term, the bigger story remains the same: a major cultural event collapsed in days, and its wreckage is now spilling into a potential legal battle at the highest level of South Australian politics.