Topics: ABC bias and the hiring of activist Grace Tame
Luke Bona: I wanted to talk to the minister involved in all of this. Liberal Senator, Sarah Henderson, and she’s on the telephone now. Shadow Communications Minister, good morning to you. I know you’re busy, thanks for giving us a bit of time.
Senator Henderson: Luke, it’s wonderful to join you.
Luke Bona: I couldn’t believe this. You’re Shadow Minister for Communications, the ABC is taxpayer-funded and they have a charter, which I am blowing up about all the time, Senator, I don’t want to waste your time on that. They completely ruin their charter so often, as far as political bias is concerned, and I can talk about that, but this comes under your shadow portfolio. What do you make of the taxpayer funding this young woman?
Senator Henderson: Well Luke, your point about the charter is a very important point because the ABC receives more than $1.2 billion a year and it must, under its statute, disseminate news and information impartially and accurately. And I have spoken time and time again about the need for the ABC to be a place of the highest standards of journalism, not activism. And yet time and time again we have seen the ABC breach its charter, breach its statutory obligations, and disseminate news and reports, whether it’s news or current affairs or other programs, which are biassed in their nature and don’t comply with their statutory obligation.
So I’m really shocked that the ABC has made the decision to hire Grace Tame. And you made a very good point, she, of course, was the Australian of the year in 2021 and was a very strong advocate against sexual abuse against children. She spoke and told her very gruesome story but in recent years she has become an activist for all the wrong reasons, including her anti-Israel activism, decrying the Hamas sexual violence against Israel women as propaganda, calling for the ‘globalise the Intifada’ at the Sydney Town Hall protest which, of course, is a call for violence against Jews around the world, is completely untenable and that’s why I’ve called on the Managing Director and the Editor-in-Chief, Hugh Marks, of the ABC to provide a full explanation as to how Miss Tame can undertake her duties and maintain confidence in the ABC.
Luke Bona: Let’s talk about the ABC charter. You talk about the ABC being there to promote balanced journalism and not activism. If they have this charter, I mean you just got to watch Q+A, you just got to watch 7.30, I used to sit there and watch it before I went on air on Triple M. I used to go, ‘you’re kidding, you’re kidding’. You’d see who they had in the audience, who else was on the panel, and anyone who was slightly conservative was seriously ambushed. And there’s nothing wrong with having balanced debate but it was clearly an ambush over and over and over again. So what power does the minister have on making sure the ABC sticks to its non-biased charter?
Senator Henderson: Well what’s incredible about the Albanese government and the minister, Anika Wells, who spends more time than anything else running around the world, rorting travel expenses, frankly, she is completely silent on the ABC. Now, I worked at the ABC in a different era for nine years and I worked there because I did love the ABC. I really value public broadcasting and what it can contribute to this country, but in exchange for that very significant public investment in public broadcasters like the ABC, there is a very high level of responsibility and that includes the obligation to ensure that information, the reporting is not biassed, that there is a very strong statutory obligation. And the minister must step up, the government must step up, and yet we have seen a constant failure of this government to do so.
I have actually spoken on a number of occasions about the need for the ABC Act to be reformed. It just is not good enough because there’s been many times when ABC journalists have gone rogue on social media and there doesn’t seem to have been any consequences. Apparently, that’s not in breach of editorial standards when you make these sorts of comments on social media. But look, Australians want to see the ABC be the very best and unfortunately, when the ABC makes decisions like this one, the hiring of Grace Tame, that really does put the ABC’s reputation at risk.
Luke Bona: I think it does and I think the ABC plays a really important part in communicating to Australia. There are people who live in remote areas that need news, they need local news, they need regional contact, they need companionship, and the ABC can give that to them. But how much did you say? $1.2 billion?
Senator Henderson: That’s right.
Luke Bona: How many television stations? How many radio stations? Look, we can talk about that another day.
Senator Henderson: Well there’s about 2,000 journalists working at the ABC across a range of different radio, television, and online platforms. I would just go back to this point, the ABC continues to say, you know, we are the most trusted broadcaster in Australia. Well when the ABC decides to hire a high-profile activist who spreads false information about the barbaric October 7 terrorist attack, engages in conduct which promotes hostility towards Jewish people, spreads social division in our community. I mean, how can the ABC be trusted under those circumstances? This is just not good enough.
The ABC made this decision when it hired Antoinette Lattouf. She’s also an activist. They never did their homework. Yes, they were found to have breached her contract and there was a very significant decision made against the ABC, which cost taxpayers a lot of money, but the bottom line is you’ve got to set appropriate standards when you hire people to work for the ABC. They did not do that in the case of Antoinette Lattouf and they are not doing it now in the case of Grace Tame. And we have an antisemitism Royal Commission underway at the moment, and I have called on the Royal Commission to establish a dedicated block of hearings into our cultural organisations, including our public broadcasters to examine in detail whether these organisations are meeting community expectations in identifying, addressing, and preventing antisemitism in all its forms, and how can the ABC meet that threshold when it engages someone like Miss Tame.
Luke Bona: Alright, I’ve got to leave it there. Liberal Senator, Sarah Henderson, great to talk to you. Thank you so much. What year did you start at the ABC?
Senator Henderson: It was 1989. I was only 12 at the time, by the way, Luke. Very young.
Luke Bona: My parents were massive consumers and I woke up with Clive Robertson and that chat that he used to have with Caroline Jones, and I’m thinking Andrew Wally, I’m thinking Margaret Throsby, Michael Morton-Evans. It was a wonderful ABC that I grew up with. It’s very different now.
Senator Henderson: It was a wonderful era and I worked for The Investigators, the 7.30 Report, at a time when I think standards were much higher.
Luke Bona: Alright, I’ve got to go, Senator. The news is just about to hit me, as you would understand, thanks for your time. Liberal Senator, Sarah Henderson.