show\u2019s closing segment<\/a>, where children sing a song about Indigenous children being locked up.<\/p>\nThe song, called I Shouldn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
It shows the children inside a prison complex, with one child wearing a spithood.<\/p>\n
Armstrong introduced the segment saying: \u201cIn 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn 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\u2019re comfortable shoving them in prison.\u201d<\/p>\n
McIntosh\u2019s complaint said the knowledge that the child actors used in the segment would have been encouraged and coached to depict such scenes was \u201cgrotesque and a clear contravention of the ABC\u2019s Code of Practice\u201d.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the Greens came out in support of Armstrong, describing his show as the ABC at its cutting-edge best.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we cannot make fun of ourselves and make fun of the exposure of racism through humour, then we really have lost the plot,\u201d said the Green\u2019s communications spokesperson, senator Sarah Hanson-Young.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this is the best that the Liberal Party fun police can do, it\u2019s no wonder they are being outpolled by One Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Civil Liberties Australia said the Liberals should leave comedy to the professionals.<\/p>\n\u201cEvery MP, but particularly ministers, should be advised not to attack the ABC, Australia\u2019s most trusted institution,\u201d said the CLA\u2019s secretary, Bill Rowlings.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s comedy\u2019s job to poke the noses of everyone occasionally. If only Melissa McIntosh and I could see things through Tony Armstrong\u2019s eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The opposition\u2019s Indigenous affairs spokesperson, Kerrynne Liddle, told the Guardian she chose not to watch the program.<\/p>\n
\u201cIssues for Indigenous Australians must be treated with the utmost seriousness,\u201d she said. \u201cNothing about these issues is funny.\u201d<\/p>\n
An ABC spokesperson said Always Was Tonight sought to examine Indigenous Australians\u2019 lived experiences through satire, social observation and comedy.<\/p>\n\u201cThe program was creative, insightful and sometimes challenging,\u201d the spokesperson said in a statement to the Guardian.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sought not to divide but to highlight the perspectives of Indigenous Australians to contribute to a shared understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ABC said the safety, wellbeing and protection of the child actors involved in the show \u201cwere treated with the utmost seriousness\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cCareful 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,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn Indigenous psychologist was present and the shoot was registered with the NSW Office of the Children\u2019s Guardian.\u201d<\/p>\n
The communications minister, Anika Wells, was contacted for comment.<\/p>\n