Cricket Australia sacks female executive over abortion tweets

A former Cricket Australia executive has alleged that she was sacked for publicly criticising the Tasmanian Government over abortion services.

Angela Williamson, aged 39, had been a Government Relations Manager at Cricket Tasmania, an affilitate of Cricket Tasmania, until June.

Williamson said she was sacked after writing tweets critical of the Tasmanian Government, with Cricket Australia saying that it would not tolerate "offensive comments" by staff.

The recent closure of Tasmania's only abortion clinic, apparently due to lack of demand, has been controversial.

Its closure forced Williamson as well as other women to travel to mainland Australia to seek an abortion.

In June, Williamson (pictured) used her Twitter account to express frustration about healthcare in Tasmania.

One tweet criticised a Tasmanian MP's speech on abortion as the "most irresponsible, gutless and reckless delivery in parliament ever".

Cricket Australia referred to the tweets in its termination letter to Williamson on 29th June.

As published by Fairfax, the letter read "your role requires you to represent Cricket Tasmania and Cricket Australia in the best possible manner to government.

"The tweets you have sent are fundamentally inconsistent with this requirement."

Williamson has launched legal action against Cricket Australia with her lawyers argueing that her sacking breaches national employment laws.

Her lawyer Kamal Farouque told the BBC "political opinion is protected under the law. She was obviously shocked to lose her job over an issue like this.

"Her job at Cricket Australia involved interaction with government on matters concerning cricket - what's that got to do with access to reproductive health services in Tasmania?"

In a brief statement, Cricket Australia said it respected employees' opinions but expected them to "refrain from making offensive comments that contravene this organisation's policies."

Terminating a pregnancy is legal in Tasmania, but the closure in January of the only dedicated clinic for surgical abortions - a private service - has caused months of backlash.

In February, Williamson was among the first to fly to Melbourne to have a surgical abortion, a procedure unavailable to most women through Tasmania's public healthcare system.

Several private specialists in Tasmania offer surgical terminations, but they are expensive.