Arts leader, newsreader and finance guru take over Adelaide Festival Board
The state government has announced its new picks to lead the Adelaide Festival after its renowned literary event was cancelled.
Judy Potter has been appointed Adelaide Festival board chair, with three other new members, Arts Minister Andrea Michaels announced on Tuesday afternoon.
Potter returns to the role after leading the Adelaide Festival board from 2016 to 2023, and was joined at the announcement by new board member Rob Brookman AM, the former Adelaide Festival Executive Director.
Michaels fronted the media without Premier Peter Malinauskas, who has faced questions in recent days about political pressure for telling the board he supported a call to remove Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah from the 2026 Writers’ Week lineup.
Premier Peter Malinauskas has consistently denied political interference, saying he had “never intervened or directed the board, and nor should I, in fact, as a matter of law, I can’t” but that he made it clear he supported the decision to remove Abdel-Fattah.
Michaels said she stood by the Premier’s views and “he’s able to express his views. He did that. The board made decisions. That is a matter for the board.”
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“This is a new board and we are looking forward to success,” Michaels said.
Potter succeeds former chair Tracey Whiting, who resigned on Sunday, following three other board members.
The appointments come just hours after the announcement that Adelaide Writers’ Week was cancelled for 2026 and all prior board members had resigned, with the exception of Adelaide City Council representative Mary Couros.
Other appointees are former 7NEWS anchor Jane Doyle, who is on the State Opera board, and Financial Services businessperson John Irving AM, who has previously served on the State Theatre Company and State Opera boards.
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Brookman joins the board just days after signing an open letter urging his predecessors to reinstate Sydney-born Palestinian writer Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah to the Writers’ Week lineup.
Brookman said he did not hesitate to accept the appointment when it was offered to him just hours before he fronted the media with Potter and Michaels.
“Having been publicly critical of the decision that was taken, I’m very happy to be stepping up to try and help festival through this period,” he said.
“There’s clearly been a massive change as a result of what’s gone down.
“There couldn’t have been a much more radical outcome than the entire board of a festival resigning so I think that most reasonable people would see that as an indication that it’s been accepted that there needs to be renewal and change.”
Potter said she was focused on “steadying the ship” after the Festival’s reputation had been tarnished in recent days and that the well-being of festival staff was her top priority.
She said she was unaware of any resignations beyond Writers’ Week director Louise Adler.
Adler announced her resignation on Tuesday morning with a scathing statement saying the event was the “canary in the coalmine” around free speech.
In an announcement earlier on Tuesday, the Adelaide Festival issued an apology to Randa Abdel-Fattah did not reverse its decision to rescind her invitation to Writers’ Week, instead letting the event crumble.
