Topics: ABC bias, Royal Commission scrutiny of publicly funded cultural organisations, Teal party
Chris Kenny: Thanks for joining us, Sarah. First up, this level of reporting from the ABC, unquestioning propaganda from the Iranian regime it would seem?
Senator Henderson: Well Chris, good afternoon, great to join you, and I share your concerns about the ABC’s reporting on these issues, I did not see the report, so I can’t comment comprehensively in relation to the manner in which it covered that story. But this is why I have called for the Royal Commission to investigate our public broadcasters and our cultural organisations with a distinct dedicated block of hearings, because we’re seeing systemic issues. A lot of anti-Israel sentiment is running through these cultural organisations including the public broadcasters, and that’s why Michaelia Cash, Angie Bell, and myself have called on the Royal Commission to examine in a great deal of detail, the many issues with our cultural organisations.
Chris Kenny: Yeah, I’ll come back to that. Just on that report, there was no mention of dissenters and executions in it and we understand the complexities of reporting from Iran. Maybe they could have added information after the report was aired because the reporter there will be under all sorts of obligations to Iran. Maybe she could have filed the report with a more sceptical and critical aspect of when she left Iran, or maybe they just shouldn’t have gone. We’ll pursue these things with the ABC, but getting back to the Royal Commission in the wake of Bondi, I think this is crucial because we’ve all seen around the country how the antisemitism and Islamist extremism has flared over the country for more than two years. And the critical question here, as I’ve examined in detail on this program and in The Australian newspaper, is the biased reporting of the ABC that continually demonises Israel, accuses it of atrocities in Gaza, and then sometimes come back and correct these things afterwards. This must elevate the animosity and concerns in Australia, surely?
Senator Henderson: Well Chris, that is right and I think the ABC has been a far bigger offender in that respect than SBS. But we have seen some very concerning reports. For instance, the bombing of the hospital in Gaza. The ABC initially reported that that was committed by Israel. 500 people were killed and then, of course, it was using Hamas Health Ministry sources. And when we found out that report was wrong, it was actually Hamas which bombed the car park next to the hospital, the ABC did not do nearly enough to correct that report. And we’ve seen so many examples like that. Look at the ABC reporters and staff who boycotted the Adelaide festival in support of Randa Abdel-Fattah, who has implicitly endorsed the Hamas attack on the 7th of October. So that is why I think there is a real case for systemic investigation into these matters. But the arts bodies, I think, are even worse. We’ve seen shocking examples where known anti-Semites are being funded by arts bodies such as Creative Australia. The government has turned a blind eye to this. The CEO, Adrian Collette, has been a disgrace. He would not even denounce a writer who basically said ‘we don’t mourn fascists’ after the Bondi terrorist attack. Disgraceful stuff and so these organisations need a huge spotlight placed on them.
Chris Kenny: Well look, the ABC is out of control. This is such a problem. Now it’s not about me but because I’ve put these issues into the public arena and examined them with detailed factual submissions that have gone to the Royal Commission, Kim Williams, the chair of the ABC, instead of turning his spotlight critically on ABC editorial standards, attacks me for apparently daring to criticise the ABC. The only way to examine this properly is in the Royal Commission. What are you doing to make sure the Royal Commissioner looks at this media environment?
Senator Henderson: Well we’ve made representations to the Royal Commission to examine our cultural organisations in detail. I think that, as I say, they need a dedicated block of hearings. They are going to examine the universities and also antisemitism online, on social media but there needs to be a dedicated block of hearings. I was quite shocked that the chair of the ABC wrote that particular column. He should be focused on the board’s responsibility which is to ensure the ABC is reporting impartially and accurately. That is a statutory responsibility of the ABC. It is not a matter for him to be engaging in this sort of debate. He should be looking at what the ABC and its journalists are doing. And he also made some pretty appalling comments about the Israeli Prime Minister which were completely out of line. He then tried to walk those back. But Kim Williams cannot be an activist, he’s the chair of the ABC. He’s got very important statutory responsibilities and he is compelled to undertake those responsibilities with a great deal of care on behalf of Australian taxpayers.
Chris Kenny: I should point out for our viewers, of course, as I have done before but both you and I are former ABC journalists. You, for a much longer period than I, but we both have experience inside the beast, so to speak. Just before I let you go, I want to get your thoughts on this idea of the Teals actually formalising their grouping into a political party?
Senator Henderson: Well Chris, finally perhaps they are telling Australians the truth because they have effectively been operating as a party. They’ve been lying to Australians about that, but as we know, the only way to get rid of this terrible government is to vote Liberal National at the next election. A vote for a Teal, for an independent, is a vote straight to Labor and that is very bad for our country.
Chris Kenny: Thanks for joining us, Sarah. I appreciate it.