Lisa Wilkinson has spoken for the first time about her sensational exit from Nine over a pay parity row.
“When you’re a woman, sometimes people don’t like it if you know your value,” she said at a Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Of Commerce Christmas lunch.
“I’m living breathing proof that knowing your value will take you places you didn’t think you’d get to.”
She added: “Maybe my biggest crime is knowing my value.”
Lisa was reportedly earning $1.1 million at Today, while co-host Karl Stefanovic was being paid almost double that amount.
The veteran journalist will now be the highest-paid woman on Australian television thanks to her move to Channel Ten’s The Project, which will see her pocket a reported $2.3 million.
She’ll also be hosting The Sunday Project.
“When you feel that there’s a pattern being repeated that’s when you have to take a stand,” she told the audience.
“You draw a line in the sand, you work out this far and no further, and I got to that line in the sand and said ‘this far and no further’. And it was a really simple decision in the end.”
Nine CEO Hugh Marks recently tossed pleasantries to the curb, reinstating he has zero regrets over Lisa walking away from Today.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, he remarked, “I don’t regret it at all. It was exactly the right decision for us to make.”
WATCH: Lisa sat at the helm of breakfast television for over ten years before walking out. Post continues…
He touched on the topic of gender equality at Channel Nine, adamantly voicing that it is not an issue at his company.
“It’s a really important issue, gender pay equality. The fact that it became something that is not the issue at hand I think was unfortunate. It undermines the good work we’ve done, undermines the debate and the discussion.”
“We got to the point where for the level of work she did for the rights that we were able to access for Lisa, we weren’t able to come to a commercial agreement,” he explained.
Lisa was reportedly earning $1.1 million at Today, while Karl was being paid almost double that amount.
“When you have that depth of talent and you come to a discussion like Lisa Wilkinson, you have to eventually go, ‘actually we can’t agree there, but we’ve got three or four, five, six, seven other options’.”
After much-speculation, the replacement for Lisa Wilkinson’s co-hosting gig was confirmed as Georgie Gardner.
The experienced journalist will start her new role on the breakfast show in January.
