Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

The ABC plays an important role in many of our regional and remote communities, particularly in thin regional communication markets and during emergencies. Many years ago, I was proud to be selected as an ABC Rural Woman of the Year.

Well, I'm actually not proud of the ABC anymore—I'm appalled and disgusted. The ABC has become openly Green Left, politically biased and, too often, totally inaccurate—representing, by majority, city-centric elite activists in its news and current affairs delivery. It's no wonder, because the majority of the ABC's staff are located in cities. The 2023-24 annual report shows that 4,520 staff are based in metro areas and that only 594 are in regional and remote areas. No wonder we've seen the direct attacks on rural and regional farmers in how the city-centric ABC reported on the live cattle and live sheep issues. It was reported in such a way that the then Labor government first shut down the live cattle trade, and this has now been followed up with the shutting down of the live sheep trade. In each case, in the initial reporting, the ABC told only one side of the story—and what appalling attacks on our farmers and our regional communities as a result! I believe and hope that some of our regional ABC journalists actually understood the damage that has been done.

I have watched the bias and politicisation of city ABC news and current affairs for years, and it has progressively got worse. I will never forget some years ago, when we were in government, when in 2016 I read a terribly inaccurate ABC story about the sexual assault of a child in Nauru that proved to be completely false. The list goes on and on. I kept a file of those for so many years.

But the final straw has come for me as a result of the ABC's sustained attacks on our Australian Defence Force over the last few years, culminating in the deliberate and calculated falsifying of video footage, which was literally doctored footage inserted by the ABC into a story that was clearly designed to provide 'live evidence' to validate the journalist's story. By adding the extra gunshots to this combat footage, the ABC was determined to provide evidence that members of the Australian 2nd Commando Regiment in a helicopter fired multiple shots at what the ABC claimed were unarmed Afghan civilians.

There is no doubt the ABC has been determined to vilify the Australian Defence Force members for years, desperately trying to prove they were guilty of war crimes. In spite of the weasel words we heard at Senate estimates, and a pathetic and carefully orchestrated internal 'review' that in no way passes the pub test of any fair-minded Australian, there is no doubt in anyone's mind that the ABC journalist and his team did indeed deliberately doctor, falsify, manipulate and distort information, material and evidence in order to mislead audiences, which was designed to substantiate that journalist's storyline that the ADF was guilty of and had committed a war crime.

And, yes, ABC, if the gunshots had been added with the deliberate purpose of misleading the audience then, in the words of your own carefully selected internal reviewer, Mr Sunderland, it would have amounted to 'one of the most egregious and serious breaches imaginable of fundamental journalistic ethics.' But this is exactly what ABC did. It was in fact 'one of the most egregious and serious breaches imaginable of fundamental journalistic ethics', otherwise the shots would not have been heard in the audio at all—and if it had been an error the ABC would have corrected that fact immediately. The ABC cannot deny this. The evidence is clear.

This if further proof beyond doubt that the ABC has not and will not meet its charter obligations, which state the ABC has to provide 'comprehensive broadcasting services of a high standard'. The duties of the board include:

… to ensure that the gathering and presentation by the Corporation of news and information is accurate and impartial according to the recognized standards of objective journalism; …

Well, it's obvious that the ABC is not accurate and it is definitely not impartial.

I am sickened by the fact that the ABC board and employees will all be probably smiling at how well they delivered their story that they wanted the public to believe. In spite of how deliberately egregious and wrong that story was, no-one has been held or will be held responsible or accountable. The board and the management and staff will carry on business as usual, and nothing will change at the ABC. This is just further evidence of the green-left ABC and that it s a law unto itself.

But what is even worse is that, according to the 2024 ABC annual report, Australian taxpayers are paying a record amount of more than $1.1 billion for this. I understand that the ABC is asking for even more taxpayers' dollars at a time that its audience numbers are dwindling by 670,000 a week. No wonder the audience numbers are falling with stories like this. It is a bit like shooting fish in a barrel, when you attack our Defence Force members. The ABC is determined not to represent broad Australian interests or views. There is a very clear lack of impartiality and balance, and there appears to be a consistent narrative for the green, left ABC to criticise defence.

Editorial standards at the ABC require accuracy, impartiality, excellence and independence. The ABC has failed this test, as we've seen with this story, not only in the audio editing I talked about already but in defence industry coverage I've seen recently. The reporting showed a clear lack of balanced sources of information and featured those with known agendas who are keen to disrupt defence. It did not demonstrate any of the great achievements of the ADF, the other side of that story. This is information the Australian people have a right to and deserve to know from a media organisation they pay for; it is coverage which would give our serving ADF members pride in their achievements and would actually help the ABC meet its editorial standard of broadcasting programs that contribute to a sense of national identity.

The lack of balance was clear in the ABC's Land Forces expo protest coverage. ABC news coverage was reported as 'People injured in the Land Forces expo protests this week are assessing their legal options, lawyer says'. There was little or no criticism of the violent protesters, and where was the reporting on the attendees, who were either attacked or had to seek alternate routes? Why was there no reporting of the fact that the ADF personnel were advised not to attend the workplace on St Kilda Road for fear of attack? Why was there no reporting that ADF personnel were strongly advised not to wear their uniforms to work in that area for fear of attack? Why was there little reporting of the fact that ADF personnel were harassed at hotels? The ABC article actually sought greater legal defence mechanisms promoting greater protection for the protesters who were violent—one side of that story only.

I am sick of these attacks on defence. This lack of balanced reporting and the ABC's ongoing sustained attack on our ADF has to have a really dramatic and dreadful impact at a time when retention and recruitment are problems and given the findings of the royal commission into veterans' suicide.

The ABC editorial standards state that it should be broadcasting programs that, as I said, contribute to a sense of national identity. How is tearing at our ADF adding to our sense of national identity? It actually undermines Australia's values, freedoms and democracy. That's in spite of our young people, who are in significant and impressive numbers participating at events such as Anzac Day.

It's no wonder the ABC is losing its audiences. It is not providing comprehensive broadcasting and services of a very high standard. I'm presenting the editorial by the board and the duties of the board to ensure that the gathering and presentation by the corporation of news and information is accurate and impartial according to the recognised standards of objective journalism.

I can't believe that this is what we're getting from what is supposed to be our national ABC. As someone who lives and works in regional Australia, for so long we relied on the ABC to be exactly that and to provide those of us in the regions not only with accurate reporting but with timely responses that we need whenever there is an emergency. I am so saddened at what the ABC has become.

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