Category Archives: Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Consumer advocates reject media calls to preserve exemptions to Australian privacy law

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Centre for Responsible Technology ‘supportive’ of proposed reforms, calling them the ‘first significant upgrade of privacy laws in four decades’

Consumer digital rights advocates have rejected media companies’ call to preserve their exemption to privacy law, warning that commercial models should not be put ahead of public interest.

Peter Lewis, the director of the Australia Institute’s Centre for Responsible Technology, said it was “disappointing” that the Right to Know coalition “set up with the laudable goal of protecting journalists and whistleblowers is now being deployed to prosecute Big Media’s business interests at the expense of the public they purport to serve”.

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Australian media companies reject proposed privacy law reforms

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Coalition of organisations says changes would have ‘devastating impact on press freedom’ and are not in public interest

Media companies have rejected a proposal to reform Australian privacy law, warning that the changes – including a right to sue outlets for serious invasions of privacy – are not in the public interest and would harm press freedom.

The Right to Know coalition warns the attorney general’s department’s proposal, released in February, would have “a devastating impact on press freedom and journalism in Australia without any clearly defined need or benefit”.

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ABC to review use of TikTok after app banned from Australian government devices

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Ban only applies to non-corporate government entities but may have flow-on effects to other agencies and businesses

The ABC is reviewing its use of TikTok following the federal government’s ban of the Chinese-owned social media app on government-issued devices.

The ban announced by the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, on Tuesday only applies to non-corporate government entities, meaning a range of government-owned businesses and agencies are not subject to the ban, including the ABC, SBS, Australia Post and NBN Co.

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Australia politics live: government and opposition strike agreement over voice referendum machinery changes

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Bipartisan approach likely as Senate addresses changes to the rules governing referendums. Follow the day’s news live

Voice negotiations

The referendum machinery legislation will set up how the voice referendum will run – the machinery surruounding the vote, if you will.

We’re negotiating in good faith in the Senate that’s being led by Jane Hume who is doing an outstanding job. What we said to the government in the beginning is what we’re saying to them now and that is that we are not prepared to trash decades of referendum precedent, and not do this in a way that Australians expect us to, in their interests, for their information.

We’re asking for a pamphlet to outline the yes and no case, and we’ve talked about that. We’re asking for equal funding of the yes or no case, not the millions of dollars that may go into a public campaign on either side of this debate, but just the administration funding.

Fifty-seven per cent of the population does not want to open new coal and gas mines and I think there’s a very clear message coming through there. Secondly, no, I have got a lot of time for Jacqui Lambie, but we had an emissions trading scheme in this country and she was part of a party that voted to repeal it so let’s let’s not get too carried away with the spin here.

We’re in a climate crisis, as the UN secretary general has made clear. The decisions that we make now will reverberate for generations to come and the big decisions that we’ve got to make, do we open new coal and gas mines or not?

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ABC article defamed commando by naming him and running ‘huge colour photo’, court told

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Heston Russell’s lawyer tells federal court readers were given ‘impression’ he was responsible for shooting an unarmed prisoner in Afghanistan

Lawyers for a former special forces officer have argued an ABC article portrayed him as a war criminal, despite not directly alleging he had committed crimes.

Heston Russell is suing the ABC and two of its investigative journalists over stories published in 2020 and 2021 which he argues gave readers the “impression” he was responsible for shooting an unarmed prisoner and was being investigated.

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ABC calls for mandate to ensure it hosts federal election debate

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Bid follows national broadcaster being turned down last election by Scott Morrison to appear in leaders’ debate despite its broad reach

The ABC has called for legislation to ensure it hosts and broadcasts at least one leaders’ debate during a federal election campaign.

The public broadcaster made the case for a mandated ABC election debate in a submission to the inquiry into the 2022 federal election, which continues its public hearings in Canberra on Tuesday.

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Man pleads guilty to harassing ABC’s Mark Willacy over reporting on alleged Afghanistan war crimes

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Thomas Mark Rickard, who served in ADF, avoids conviction but is ordered to pay $1,000 good behaviour bond for leaving reporter abusive and threatening voicemail

A Victorian man who served with the Australian Defence Force has pleaded guilty to harassing the ABC journalist Mark Willacy after he reported on alleged war crimes committed in Afghanistan.

Thomas Mark Rickard, from Lara, near Geelong, was arrested late last year after phoning Willacy and leaving an abusive and threatening voicemail.

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Solomon Islands to ban foreign journalists who are not ‘respectful’ – report

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PM office says journalists cannot operate in the Pacific as they do in other countries, accusing Australia’s ABC of ‘racial profiling’ in China coverage

The Solomon Islands government has reportedly threatened to ban foreign journalists from entering the Pacific nation if they are not “respectful” or if they engage in “racial profiling” in stories about the country’s ties with China.

The office of the prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, issued a statement on Wednesday saying that overseas journalists needed to understand they could not operate in the Pacific the same way they did in other countries, the ABC has reported.

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Only ‘ideology or fear’ would push a government to attack ABC, Anthony Albanese says

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PM marks public broadcaster’s 90th birthday with a defence of its importance and thinly veiled attack on former government

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Only a government ruled by ideology or fear would attack the ABC, Anthony Albanese has said at the 90th birthday celebration of the public broadcaster in Sydney.

In a thinly veiled attack on the former Coalition government’s fraught relationship with the ABC, the prime minister on Friday evening said a strong independent broadcaster was vital to democracy and brought Australia together as a nation.

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Justin Stevens apologises to ABC staff after report finds workplace racism

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ABC’s news director emailed staff on Thursday following internal allegations over experiences of racism at the broadcaster

The ABC news director, Justin Stevens, has apologised to staff after a “disturbing” report found some Indigenous and culturally diverse staff have experienced racism at the national broadcaster.

“These things should never happen,” Stevens said in an email to all news staff on Thursday.

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Liberal-led Senate inquiry into ABC and SBS abandoned

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Ita Buttrose previously branded investigation of complaints handling ‘an act of political interference’

A Liberal-led parliamentary inquiry into the complaints handling processes of the ABC and SBS will not go ahead.

The environment and communications Senate committee officially dropped its inquiry on Thursday after the completion of an independent review of the procedures.

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Public sector cuts worth $3.3bn would not result in job losses, David Littleproud claims

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Nationals frontbencher describes cuts as ‘sensible management’ but unions say they will result in thousands of job losses

Nationals frontbencher David Littleproud has claimed that spending cuts imposed across the public sector to deliver $3.3bn in savings to pay for the Morrison government’s election commitments will not result in job losses.

Littleproud at first told the ABC erroneously on Wednesday morning that “governments don’t employ people, businesses do”.

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Craig McLachlan allegedly threw tantrums and threatened Rocky Horror Show cast members, court told

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Defence barrister tells defamation trial McLachlan had ‘tendency to get angry easily’

Craig McLachlan has been portrayed in court as an allegedly powerful and angry lead actor who threw tantrums, threatened cast members and physically abused actresses.

Defence barrister Michael Hodge QC on Friday took a defamation trial jury through several incidents in which McLachlan, 56, was alleged to have been furious at supervisor directions, musicians missing cues and fellow actors changing their performances without notice.

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Sarah Ferguson to replace Leigh Sales as host of ABC’s 7.30 program

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Former Four Corners presenter has won five Walkley awards in a career with the ABC stretching back to 2008

Investigative reporter Sarah Ferguson will replace Leigh Sales as the presenter of ABC nightly current affairs flagship, 7.30, in July.

Ferguson, who has been reporting from Washington DC for two years, is a forensic long-form reporter and a tough interviewer whose work made headlines when she fronted 7.30 for six months in 2014.

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Executive producer of 7.30, Justin Stevens, to be appointed ABC news director

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Stevens, 37, chosen for top role after lengthy recruitment process following October departure of former news head Gaven Morris

The executive producer of 7.30, Justin Stevens, has been chosen to helm ABC news, leapfrogging over the acting head, Gavin Fang, and the current affairs head, John Lyons, to land the powerful job.

Guardian Australia understands that the ABC managing director, David Anderson, will announce the appointment of Stevens as director of news, analysis and investigations on Thursday morning.

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ABC reappearance at Senate hearing could reveal details of agreement with Christian Porter

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Questions need to be answered after broadcaster refuted claims made by minister, Sarah Hanson-Young says

The ABC will be hauled back before Senate estimates to discuss details of its agreement with Christian Porter that led the industry minister to drop his defamation suit against the broadcaster.

The Senate communications committee will hold a hearing as early as next week at which the ABC managing director, David Anderson, will be asked who proposed the settlement and why the public broadcaster agreed to it.

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One in six Australian public servants sexually harassed in workplace, survey finds

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Exclusive: Survey of Australian public sector found two-thirds of incidents went unreported due to fears they would not be impartially investigated

Almost one in six public servants have experienced sexual harassment but only one-third of incidents were reported, according to a new union survey.

The results of a survey of 3,280 workers by the Community and Public Sector Union, released on Friday, will add pressure to the Morrison government to do more to combat workplace harassment.

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ABC checking on presenter’s wellbeing after expletives shouted during Adelaide news bulletin

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Radio presenter shouted multiple expletives and appeared to be ad-libbing bulletin before being taken off air

An ABC radio presenter shouted an expletive twice during a late-night news broadcast in Adelaide before being abruptly taken off the air.

The national broadcaster has said it is investigating the incident and making sure the staff member is OK.

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ABC chair Ita Buttrose accuses government of ‘political interference’ in draft letter to Paul Fletcher

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Exclusive: Buttrose mounts robust defence of broadcaster’s independence in response to questions about Four Corners’ episode Inside the Canberra Bubble

The ABC chair, Ita Buttrose, has accused the government of a pattern of behaviour which “smacks of political interference” in a robust defence of the public broadcaster’s independence, according to a draft of a letter responding to a barrage of Coalition complaints about the Four Corners program Inside the Canberra Bubble.

In the program broadcast last month, the journalists Louise Milligan and Lucy Carter investigated complaints about attorney general Christian Porter, including an alleged history of sexist and inappropriate behaviour towards women, and an affair the acting immigration minister, Alan Tudge, had with a female adviser in 2017.

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Australian politics live: Chinese embassy accuses Canberra of overreacting to tweet on Afghan killings

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Embassy official dismisses ‘rage and roar’ over tweet; new WA border rules not requiring quarantine to start on 8 December; Paul Fletcher complains to ABC chair about Four Corners program. Follow latest updates

And that’s where we’ll leave the blog for today. Thanks as always for reading, we’ll be back tomorrow, with Amy Remeikis at the helm in the morning.

Here’s what happened today:

And in further weather news, severe thunderstorms are set to hit Sydney in a few minutes. The Bureau of Meteorology has warned of damaging winds and large hailstones.

⚡Detailed Severe Thunderstorm Warning⚡
for DAMAGING WINDS and LARGE HAILSTONES. Forecast to affect Hornsby, Parramatta and Richmond by 7:05 pm and Sydney City, Sydney Olympic Park, Mona Vale and waters off Bondi Beach by 7:35 pm.
⚠️Warnings: https://t.co/qF3XejM6Tv pic.twitter.com/qnSGNfqZND

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