A Tasmanian council has debunked claims made in an inflammatory anti-trans letter published by an editor who was formerly controversial Liberal candidate Katherine Deves’ campaign manager.
Last Tuesday, Launceston newspaper The Examiner published a letter to the editor that claimed a trans woman undressed in front of children in a women’s changing room at a local aquatic centre. When parents complained to the council staff running the centre, the author said, they were told there was nothing they could do and were given a life ban.
The City of Launceston immediately disputed the claim.
“No such incident has occurred at the facility. It is regrettable that no attempt was made to check the veracity of the claims before publication,” said a council statement released that day.
The Examiner published a clarification the next day stating that the paper had been misled — but it was too late. The letter had gone far beyond its publication, spreading virally online by transphobic activists. The council was overwhelmed with calls and emails protesting about the fake letter.
The Examiner’s editor Mark Westfield, who is responsible for the letters to the editor section, said the paper did “all it could in the circumstances”.
Westfield was appointed editor in December. Before that, he had served as the business editor for The Australian and as the 2022 federal election campaign manager for Katherine Deves, the failed, captain’s-pick Liberal candidate for Warringah whose campaign flamed out after her extensive history of anti-trans comments was made public.
Westfield defended the process that led the paper to publishing the letter, arguing that it was “impossible” to fact-check letters with personal anecdotes. He also went on the offensive against the Launceston council.
“[The Examiner] does not appreciate being lectured by councillors who have presided over some disastrous decisions that have been very costly for ratepayers, the Birchalls car park fiasco and the loss-making Tiger bus ‘service’ being just two examples,” he wrote.
Westfield did not respond to questions about whether The Examiner would revisit its procedures. He told the ABC that he had spoken to the letter writer, Olivia Nettlefold, and came away thinking that she had made it up after she refused to give any details on the account.
Nettlefold’s letter does not make it clear whether she witnessed the account. The ABC reported that Nettlefold believes it happened to a friend. Nettlefold has repeatedly shared content from anti-trans groups on social media. In February, she posted links from the Australian Christian Lobby and Binary opposing gender identity laws and a drag queen story time event.
A 2019 Examiner article contains a picture of Nettlefold alongside Jess Hoyle, a Tasmanian woman who has unsuccessfully fought a legal battle to exclude trans women from a drag event.
Nettlefold did not respond to requests for comment.
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