A federal court case brought by the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) against journalist Mary Costakidis has been dismissed “by consent” without “no order for costs”.
The federation accused the former SBS news presenter of violating the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) for sharing two X-posts about a speech by late Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah in January 2024.
Last year, Kostakidis asked the court to dismiss the proceedings, arguing that the lawsuit failed to identify which race, ethnicity or nationality was offended by her social media posts about Israel.
ZFA chief executive Alon Cassuto said the violation occurred when Costakidis shared a video of Nasrallah’s speech on X and added: “The Israeli government receives some of its own medicine. Israel started something it cannot finish with this genocide.”
A second post with the same video was also part of the complaint. The complaint was first lodged with the Australian Human Rights Commission but then moved to federal court.
On Friday, the court said the case was dismissed with the consent of both parties.
Costakidis said in a statement that she had spent “two years doing nothing but preparing her defense in a case designed to silence me” and the cessation was “a victory for every Australian who values our democratic right to freedom of political expression”.
“I want to thank my fellow Australians who recognized the importance of what we had to lose, supported me and helped me begin my advocacy,” she said.
“The purpose of journalism is to fearlessly get to the truth and hold power accountable. This is a victory for the triumphant freedom of the press.
“Watching people live-stream their own genocide while the international community responsible for creating this mess offered the victims sympathy and the perpetrators bombs, diplomatic cover and impunity was disgusting.”
In a statement released on Friday, Cassuto said his goals in bringing proceedings had been “largely satisfied” following Kostakidis’ public apology in 2025 for the “hurt, suffering and pain” experienced by Jews and Israelis in Australia, who took her posts “as an endorsement”.
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“An important reason I raised this issue was to seek recognition of the harm these messages caused to ordinary Jewish Australians,” he said.
“Given everything that Ms. Kostakidis decided to publish after her apology, further apologies forced by the court will ring hollow.
“The issues that prompted me to bring this case are being examined by the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion. The commission’s report will be presented in December following a national inquiry into how antisemitism has become so normalized in Australia.”
Cassuto added: “Ms Costakidis can give her own account of her conduct. The Australian public can give theirs. I’m not going to spend another year taking Ms Costakidis’ disgusting comments from the dark corners of the internet and giving them a federal court platform in her quest for martyrdom. My job here is done.”