Achi news desk-
What brought some of Australia’s most respected journalists home in the exclusive Sydney suburb of Elizabeth Bay on Monday night for a press conference that lasted just two minutes?
Last week, news.com.au revealed a former Seven producer who was working on last year Spotlights An interview between Liam Bartlett and Bruce Lehrmann allegedly booked a $1,000 Thai massage for Lehrmann at a property in Elizabeth Bay in 2022, in an attempt to secure the interview.
The revelations came after Steve Jackson, who produced the interview but was unaware of the payment, was appointed the new executive director of public affairs at NSW Police, setting journalists’ phones across Sydney on fire in the process.
Lehrmann, a former Liberal staffer accused of (and vehemently denying) raping Parliament colleague Brittany Higgins in 2019, denied the Thai massage revelations, saying The Australian while he was in Sydney and meeting Seven producers on the night in question, it was “a strange and untrue story from a disgruntled former Seven Network producer”.
As the story unfolds, Sky News Australia journalist Taylor Auerbach, who was working on the Spotlights story at the time with Jackson, told by The Sydney Morning Herald to have lost his job at Sky News last week (although news.com.au reports he left voluntarily). The SMH it was reported that Auerbach was known to “be a background to the media about Jackson”, with whom he is locked in a “major falling out”. Auerbach left Saith to join Sky in January this year.
“Although not named in recent stories, it is generally known that Auerbach was the anonymous Spotlights producer who put nearly $3,000 on a Seven corporate card for the services of two Thai massacres,” the SMH reported last week.
The paper further said Auerbach’s row with Jackson coincided with the distribution of photographs of Jackson and a naked woman he had interviewed in 2019. NSW police told the SMH that Jackson’s recent appointment is being reviewed regarding the images.
Yesterday Auerbach was in front of the media near his home in Elizabeth Bay in a strange press conference that lasted less than two minutes. Also in attendance were amazed onlookers, including Gold Walkley-winning journalist Jenny Brockie, who was out for a walk and stopped to ask what was going on.
Visibly shaken and holding heavily annotated notes, Auerbach disputed Lehrmann’s denial that he had lost his job at Seven over the incident.
“Last week various stories and rumors emerged about Mr. Jackson and I, and incidents allegedly involving the pair of us,” Auerbach said.
“They took their own lives, in their own individual ways, and I can summarize a lot of it as gossip.”
“In at least one of the articles, it was reported that I was counseled and given a written warning by Channel Seven regarding my conduct, relating to an evening involving Bruce Lehrmann. That reporting is incorrect – as are reports that I lost my job because of the incident.
“Mr Lehrmann very quickly issued a denial about the story, saying, and I quote, ‘it’s an untrue and strange story from a disgruntled former Network Seven producer’.”
“I would like to make it absolutely clear that I reject Mr Lehrmann’s accusations. That’s all I can say for now.”
Auerbach then left quickly, with journalists chasing after him.
Seven’s Robert Ovadia said: “Taylor, you must know what it’s like to make a statement and then walk away from questions?”
Nine’s Kate McClymont was more insistent, running after Auerbach as he left the Arthur McElhone Reserve in Sydney’s east.
“You can’t just say that and walk away! You have not explained anything! You could have issued a press release saying that.”
Auerbach did not respond to questions put to him by Cricket either. News.com.au reports that Auerbach has been flown down to Tasmania to play golf with Lehrmann in December 2022, but Auerbach would not respond to questions about where they have played, or indeed what his disadvantage.
Auerbach told The SMH on Saturday he had hired lawyers related to Jackson, but did not respond Cricket when asked if he had any comments on the reports or if he intended to take legal action.
Auerbach rose to prominence in 2009 as an 18-year-old contestant on Nine’s Millionaire Hot Seat. Auerbach, a journalism student at the University of Technology Sydney, then correctly identified the colored paper for the London paper Financial Times written (salmon pink for those playing at home) for a $50,000 prize, and an apparent job offer from Eddie McGuire (a job that ultimately did not materialize, with Auerbach beginning his career at News Corp in 2010).
Auerbach was also a contestant on the second season of Come Dine With Me Australia, where he hosted a dinner party for his fellow contestants with a 50’s rock-and-roll theme.
