The opposition has complained to the ABC over Tony Armstrong’s one-off special, which took aim at colonialism and racism against Indigenous Australians.
The shadow communications minister, Melissa McIntosh, has sent a letter of complaint to the ABC managing director, Hugh Marks, demanding a full investigation into Always Was Tonight, a satirical news program that aired on the broadcaster on 21 January.
The complaint claims the content of the show may have breached the ABC’s content, broadcasting and editorial responsibilities.
“[The ABC] has an important duty as a trusted public institution to protect our multiculturalism, promote social cohesion, and not seek to broadcast content that divides our nation,” the letter says.
“In the light of the horrors that have confronted Australians over the last month from the Bondi terrorist attack, now more than ever we cannot tolerate offensive content which stokes?further division.”
Under the public broadcaster’s charter, the ABC must inform and entertain the community, reflect cultural diversity and contribute to a sense of national identity.
There is nothing in the charter that requires the broadcaster to promote social cohesion.
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But McIntosh’s complaint says the ABC has a responsibility to editorially justify any content that is likely to cause harm or offence, and must label that content appropriately.
She also said the ABC had a duty of care to minors involved in the commissioning and creation of content.
The complaint centres on the show’s closing segment, where children sing a song about Indigenous children being locked up.
The song, called I Shouldn’t Call This Place Home, is sung by a group of primary-school age children to the tune of the Peter Allen anthem I Still Call Australia Home.
It shows the children inside a prison complex, with one child wearing a spithood.
Armstrong introduced the segment saying: “In almost all of this country [with the exception of Victoria and the ACT], the age of criminal responsibility is just 10 years old. This is a crackdown on black kids who are 21 times more likely to be in prison than other kids.
“On an average night, like tonight in Australia, 35 Indigenous kids under 13 years old will be incarcerated. Our government thinks these kids are too young and vulnerable to use a TikTok account, but we’re comfortable shoving them in prison.”
McIntosh’s complaint said the knowledge that the child actors used in the segment would have been encouraged and coached to depict such scenes was “grotesque and a clear contravention of the ABC’s Code of Practice”.
On Wednesday, the Greens came out in support of Armstrong, describing his show as the ABC at its cutting-edge best.
“If we cannot make fun of ourselves and make fun of the exposure of racism through humour, then we really have lost the plot,” said the Green’s communications spokesperson, senator Sarah Hanson-Young.
“If this is the best that the Liberal Party fun police can do, it’s no wonder they are being outpolled by One Nation.”
Civil Liberties Australia said the Liberals should leave comedy to the professionals.
“Every MP, but particularly ministers, should be advised not to attack the ABC, Australia’s most trusted institution,” said the CLA’s secretary, Bill Rowlings.
“It’s comedy’s job to poke the noses of everyone occasionally. If only Melissa McIntosh and I could see things through Tony Armstrong’s eyes.”
The opposition’s Indigenous affairs spokesperson, Kerrynne Liddle, told the Guardian she chose not to watch the program.
“Issues for Indigenous Australians must be treated with the utmost seriousness,” she said. “Nothing about these issues is funny.”
An ABC spokesperson said Always Was Tonight sought to examine Indigenous Australians’ lived experiences through satire, social observation and comedy.
“The program was creative, insightful and sometimes challenging,” the spokesperson said in a statement to the Guardian.
“It sought not to divide but to highlight the perspectives of Indigenous Australians to contribute to a shared understanding.”
The ABC said the safety, wellbeing and protection of the child actors involved in the show “were treated with the utmost seriousness”.
“Careful and responsible steps were taken to ensure that children and their guardians were fully informed, supported, and protected throughout the production, with a clear duty of care upheld at every stage,” the statement said.
“An Indigenous psychologist was present and the shoot was registered with the NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian.”
The communications minister, Anika Wells, was contacted for comment.
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