Calls are growing for the ABC to be defunded as board members hold emergency talks after a high-profile reporter claimed Australia is a ‘racist country’.
Laura Tingle, the chief political correspondent for 7.30 and a staff-elected board member, made the comment at the Sydney Writers’ Festival on Sunday.
‘We are a racist country, let’s face it. We always have been, and it’s very depressing,’ she said during a panel discussion.
Tingle also accused Opposition leader Peter Dutton of fanning the flames of anti-migrant sentiment, and praised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese‘s leadership.
The Coalition hit back and demanded to know on Monday how Tingle would remain an impartial reporter in the lead-up to the federal election, due next year.
Some ABC board members have also been left displeased with sources claiming chair Kim Williams is considering bringing their next meeting forward from June to discuss the perceived damage Tingle’s comments have caused, The Australian reported.
Everyday Australians have joined in on the outrage and demanded the ABC be immediately defunded.
During Sunday’s panel, Tingle said she couldn’t remember the last time a major party leader was seen ‘to be saying … everything that is going wrong in this country is because of migrants’.
‘[I] had this sudden flash of people turning up to try and rent a property or at an auction and they look a bit different – whatever you define different as – (and) that basically he (Dutton) has given them licence to be abused, and in any circumstance where people feel like they’re missing out,’ she said.
Tingle accused Mr Dutton of ‘dog whistling’ and said his call to cut immigration didn’t make ‘rational sense’.
She also praised Labor, saying: ‘It’s not just about whether they got rid of Scott Morrison, they are actually trying to govern, they are trying to run a government, they are actually trying to do policy.
‘Whether you think the policy is s**t or not, that’s another issue.’
Critics of Tingle’s comments accused her of failing to remain impartial as a political reporter.
Others called for the ABC to stop receiving taxpayer funds.
‘Who really cares and believes the c**p being generated by a labor friendly biased National Broadcaster. Just defund the ABC and get rid of them,’ one person wrote on X.
‘Laura Tingle does not speak for the majority of Australians… Defund the ABC!’ another said.
‘Tingle is long past her time in ABC. ABC is anti-Australia. Defund it,’ another wrote.
Tingle was appointed to the ABC board as the staff-elected director in 2023 and is obliged to ‘act in good faith at all times and in the best interests of the ABC’.
In March, Mr Williams shared a blunt message saying staff should leave if they broke the national broadcaster’s code to be balanced.
‘If you don’t want to reflect a view that aspires to impartiality, don’t work at the ABC,’ he said.
Opposition communications spokesman David Coleman described Tingle’s comments about Mr Dutton as ‘extraordinary and completely indefensible’.
‘In addition to her comments about Mr Dutton, Ms Tingle has made further statements about her views on the Albanese Government and the Coalition,’ he said.
‘While every Australian has a right to their political views, not every Australian is Chief Political Correspondent for ABC’s 7.30 program.
‘The ABC needs to explain how Ms Tingle’s statements are compatible with her role at the taxpayer-funded broadcaster.’
ABC managing director David Anderson will be questioned about Tingle’s comments on Thursday at Senate estimates hearing in Canberra.
The ABC declined to comment on the matter on Monday.
Guardian Newspaper
