Federal Govt to launch inquiry into ABC
UPDATED: An urgent government inquiry will be held into the ABC’s decision to allow a convicted criminal to appear on Q&A after the program was re-broadcast.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott told reporters in Canberra that “heads should roll” at the national broadcaster.
The ABC has admitted it made an error of judgment by allowing Zaky Mallah, jailed for threatening federal government officials in 2003, to participate in the live broadcast on Monday.
It initially ordered an internal review of the program, but allowed the program to be re-broadcast on Wednesday morning and made available on iView.
“Here we had the ABC admitting a gross error of judgment and then compounding that terrible mistake, that betrayal, if you like, of our country,” Mr Abbott said.
The prime minister said the ABC had given a platform to a “convicted terrorist and sympathiser” and then compounded the mistake by re-broadcasting the program.
“Heads should roll over this,” he said.
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“We are not satisfied with an internal ABC inquiry because so often we’ve seen virtual whitewashes when that sort of thing happens.”
Instead the government will hold an urgent inquiry of its own.
“Frankly the ABC ought to take some very strong action straight away.”
Earlier today, Federal Liberal MP Sarah Henderson – a former ABC journalist – called on the ABC to sack Q&A‘s executive producer over the decision Mallah on the program.
She said executive producer Peter McEvoy made a serious error of judgment by allowing Mallah to appear, putting his staff and other audience members at risk.
“This was too grave an error, the ABC has got to step up,” she told reporters in Canberra this morning.
“This was a clear and obvious stunt.”
The MP’s comments came as Kevin Andrews became the first federal government minister to announce he would boycott the program
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Andrews encouraged his colleagues to do the same.
Labor senator Helen Polley suggested Q&A‘s ratings would improve if Mr Andrews didn’t appear.
The ABC has admitted it was an error of judgment to allow Mallah, jailed for threatening federal government officials in 2003, to participate in the broadcast.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said he thought the ABC made a “big mistake” in allowing Mallah to appear.
However, he said: “I wouldn’t want to see the show shut down and the ABC punished forever and a day”.
Mr Shorten said he would still be prepared to appear on Q&A.
Independent senator Nick Xenophon said that while the ABC had made an error of judgment, it should be acknowledged that Mallah had publicly renounced his past activities and had condemned Islamic State extremists.
“I’m not sure a boycott is necessarily a sensible thing,” he told reporters.
Senate crossbencher David Leyonhjelm said Mr Mallah had a right to free speech, but added that others also had the right to criticise the ABC.
The Friends of the ABC, which held a crisis meeting in Adelaide this week, have described the furore as a “political beat-up”.
– with AAP
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