Premier's compassion defence over writer's legal threat

South Australia's premier insists his actions are "founded in compassion" as he faces backlash and a legal threat over an author's festival axing.

Randa Abdel-Fattah has threatened Peter Malinauskas with defamation action, accusing the premier of a "vicious personal assault" that suggested she was an extremist terrorist sympathiser.

Dr Abdel-Fattah was last week removed from the Adelaide Festival's Writers' Week line-up, with the event cancelled on Tuesday after a mass boycott by fellow writers and the resignation of board members.

The Palestinian-Australian writer had faced scrutiny over anti-Israeli social media posts and the Adelaide Festival board cited cultural sensitivities after the Bondi terror attack in cancelling her appearance.

Mr Malinauskas on Tuesday said while he supported the independence of the board, he had a responsibility to advocate against rhetoric that "inflames hate speech".

"Can you imagine if a far right Zionist walked into a Sydney mosque and murdered 15 people? Can you imagine that as premier of this state, I would actively support a far right Zionist going to Writers' Week and speaking hateful rhetoric towards Islamic people? Of course I wouldn't," he told reporters.

"The reverse is happening in this instance, and I'm not going to support that either, and I think that's a reasonable position for me to have."

Dr Abdel-Fattah on Wednesday said the premier had made a public statement "that suggested l am an extremist terrorist sympathiser and directly linked me to the Bondi atrocity".

"This was a vicious personal assault on me, a private citizen, by the highest public official in South Australia. It was defamatory and it terrified me."

In response, the premier said that "all of my remarks, and indeed actions, have been founded in a desire for compassion and people treating each other civilly" and people could judge his comments for themselves.

Dr Abdel-Fattah said she was "a human being, not a punching bag".

"This is his opportunity to undo some of the harm he has inflicted, and stop punching down," she said.

Her lawyer Michael Bradley confirmed to AAP that he had issued a concerns notice under the Defamation Act, which is required before proceedings can commence.

Dr Abdel-Fattah had previously used social media to declare "the goal is decolonisation and the end of this murderous Zionist colony", and that Zionists "have no claim or right to cultural safety".

Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, Stella Prize winner Evelyn Araluen and former political prisoner and foreign correspondent Peter Greste were among those who pulled out in solidarity with the academic.

On Tuesday, the Adelaide Festival board pulled the pin on the event, apologised to Dr Abdel-Fattah and announced remaining members of the board would quit immediately or be gone by February 2.

The board's statement came hours after Adelaide Writers' Week director Louise Adler resigned, saying she had fought against the prominent academic's axing.

The renowned publisher, whose grandfather died in the Holocaust, had helmed Writers' Week since 2022.

Asked if he was worried the event cancellation would have a significant impact on the state's economy, Mr Malinauskas said "no, because Adelaide Writers' Week is a free event, it's a no-ticket event, it generates zero revenue".

In 2025, Writers' Week had a record-breaking 160,000 attendances and an Adelaide Festival report showed the overall event had a $47.1 million net impact on gross state product, while 338 jobs were created.