Alan Jones Trial: Prosecution Grills Former 2GB Host Over Text Messages and Media Hostility
Judge Glenn Walsh ruled on 25 August 2026 to allow prosecutors to cross-examine Jason Morrison after the crown — the term for the prosecution in Australian criminal trials — tendered evidence that Morrison sent text messages referring to the Sydney Morning Herald and journalist Kate McClymont as "pigs." The ruling came as Morrison returned to the witness box following legal argument that had halted his evidence the previous Monday (SMH).
Morrison, a former 2GB broadcaster who filled in for Alan Jones on the station as far back as August 2008, was the third witness called to give evidence about an alleged assault at a lower north shore restaurant. Complainant C, a young man in his 20s who had worked for Jones, told the court that Jones instructed him to sit next to him and spent the lunch with his left hand under the table on his leg or on his penis over his pants (Guardian).
Morrison told the court he had joked with other diners that Jones and complainant C looked like "a great couple" but denied hearing anything about Jones touching C inappropriately. He denied seeing Jones's hand under the table, saying he would have raised it had he been aware, given his forthright manner. He also denied "tailoring" — adjusting one's testimony to fit a particular narrative — his evidence to suit Alan Jones during cross-examination (ABC).
The prosecution's cross-examination drew on several text messages Morrison sent to Jones between 2018 and 2020. Prosecutor Georgina Wright read out a 2020 message in which Morrison told Jones upon his retirement from 2GB: "Thank Christ you're getting out [of Nine Entertainment]. Let them fall into a bag of shit" (Guardian). The crown also tendered evidence of messages in which Morrison referred to the SMH and Kate McClymont as pigs. Morrison testified that the phrase "pigs in the media" was one Alan Jones used to use a lot.
Morrison agreed he had a longstanding pejorative view of the Sydney Morning Herald. He said he was not a fan of Kate McClymont's reporting on the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption — a state anti-corruption body — and was disappointed that his on-the-record remarks to her about Jones were not included in her article.
Alan Jones, 85, was arrested in November 2024 and has pleaded not guilty to 20 charges of indecent assault and two counts of sexual touching against six complainants. The trial stems from Strike Force Bonnefin, a police operation formed after reporting by the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age in 2023 led to alleged victims coming forward (Guardian).
The case has also exposed fissures within Sydney's talkback radio establishment. Former 2GB host Ray Hadley is expected to give evidence in the trial in the weeks ahead (SMH).
The cross-examination of Morrison serves the prosecution's effort to test the credibility of a witness whose account of the restaurant lunch diverges from that of the complainant. The text messages form part of that strategy, establishing Morrison's hostility toward the media outlets whose investigations ultimately precipitated the police case. His dismissive language about the SMH and McClymont, the very journalist whose reporting helped bring alleged victims forward, gives prosecutors material to argue that his testimony may be coloured by loyalty to Jones and animus toward the press.
For the defence, Morrison's denials are straightforward: he did not see what the complainant alleges, and his private messages to Jones reflect personal opinion about media organisations rather than any conspiracy to mislead a court. Morrison's insistence that "pigs in the media" was Jones's phrase, not his own, attempts to distance him from the sentiment even as he conceded his own dim view of the Herald.
The trial's procedural arc has been disrupted by legal argument. Morrison's evidence was paused the previous Monday and resumed only on 25 August, a delay that points to the evidentiary disputes running beneath the surface of the jury's view. The admission of the text messages as a basis for cross-examination indicates the judge accepted the crown's position that they bear on the witness's credibility — that is, whether his testimony can be trusted.
Hadley's forthcoming testimony will draw further attention. His expected appearance suggests the prosecution or defence intends to add another insider's perspective on Jones's conduct and the culture surrounding him at 2GB, the station where Jones built his influence before retiring.
The broader context here is the convergence of two accountability mechanisms. Investigative journalism by the SMH and the Age in 2023 prompted alleged victims to approach police, who then built the case through Strike Force Bonnefin. The trial now tests those allegations in court, with the standard of proof and rules of evidence that a media investigation does not face. Think of it as two different kinds of scrutiny: journalism can raise the alarm, but only a court can determine guilt. The outcome will turn on whether six complainants' accounts, tested against the recollections of witnesses like Morrison, meet that bar.
