Topics: Antisemitism, Royal Commission, ABC bias, sex discrimination laws, Israel-Australia relations
Sharri Markson: Let’s just get straight into it with Shadow Communications Minister, Sarah Henderson. Good to see you. Look, I want to start with this breaking story that you’ve told us about tonight exclusively, that the Coalition is writing to the Royal Commission to ask it to examine Australia’s cultural institutions and public broadcasters. Now I completely agree, there’s major normalisation of antisemitism in our arts and cultural institutions. So tell us about when you wrote to the Royal Commissioner and what did you say? What’s your argument?
Senator Henderson: Well Sharri, great to join you. We are very concerned about the antisemitism in some of these cultural institutions and I think we’ve seen some real instances frequently since October 7 2023, where these institutions including the ABC, including Creative Australia, have sown division in our community. There has been some pretty stark examples of bias reporting. There was a terrible situation where the ABC reported that Israel had bombed a hospital in Gaza. They relied on sources from Hamas and then that report was wrong, yet they didn’t properly correct that report. It was very much buried. So we’ve seen constant examples like this and Australians expect their publicly-funded institutions in the arts, public broadcasters, to be at their very best. And that’s why we are calling for these cultural institutions to be properly examined by the Royal Commission.
Sharri Markson: So you want there to be a specific hearing block to examine these issues where the Royal Commission could call in people from the public broadcasters, from writers’ festivals, for example?
Senator Henderson: That’s exactly right. So the Royal Commission is still finalising its program. My understanding is that they will be taking a very strong look at the universities and antisemitism online, on social media, and we have certainly made representations seeking for there to be a lot of scrutiny into the arts organisations. Just say, for instance, have a look at Creative Australia, a writer funded by Creative Australia, Matt Chun, made the most appalling comments after Bondi. He said in an essay, ‘We don’t mourn fascists’. So I challenged the CEO of Creative Australia and said, ‘You must condemn this’. He made some general comments of condemnation but he did not specifically call out this person and say that is unacceptable. And the antisemitism envoy, Jillian Segal, has made it very clear that public institutions which facilitate or promulgate antisemitism should not receive public funding. So we think this needs a very strong examination and I’m very hopeful that the Royal Commission will take this up.
Sharri Markson: Alright, we’ll follow up next week to see what their response to you is, Sarah. I just want to turn to this issue, the Tickle v Giggle ruling, which has reignited the debate over female-only spaces, of course. Now the court has effectively found that gender identity can override biological sex under Australia’s sex discrimination laws, so do you think these laws need to be revisited?
Senator Henderson: Yes, I do. I’m a very strong proponent, as is the Coalition for changing the Sex Discrimination Act. This was an Act introduced, Sharri, to protect women and girls primarily from discrimination and it’s now been expanded in a whole lot of different ways, with the outcome that biological sex no longer matters. Women and girls have effectively been expunged from the Sex Discrimination Act. And for their privacy, their dignity, and their safety, there are times when protecting women and girls, as defined by biological sex, is critically important in refuges, in jails, on the sporting field and of course, in bathrooms and change rooms. So this is a really alarming decision. I think most Australians are pretty horrified by what Sall Grover has had to endure. As you know, she set up an app, a women’s only app and she just wanted to create an online space for women. And now, of course, the whole law relating to protecting women has been turned on its head.
Sharri Markson: Absolutely terrible. Just quickly before you go, Sarah, there’s been international outrage after one of Israel’s most controversial and despised ministers, Ben Gvir, posted videos where he behaved poorly towards Palestinian activists in a demeaning fashion. Penny Wong has hauled Israel’s ambassador in over this to DFAT. Now do you think this was necessary when Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had already strongly come out and condemned it, along with the Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, what was she hoping to achieve when Netanyahu agrees with her?
Senator Henderson: Well I don’t know, other than I think Penny Wong and the Albanese government has consistently undermined the relationship between Australia and Israel. It is a pity they don’t take the same stand when the Palestinian Authority makes all sorts of terrible decisions. Of course, there’s been many, many different decisions made by this government that have really reflected very poorly on the incredibly important relationship between Israel and Australia. Penny Wong did not need to do this. This was properly managed by the Israeli Prime Minister. And that’s pretty regrettable.
Sharri Markson: Alright Sarah, thank you very much for your time.