The prime minister, Tony Abbott, has mounted a fresh attack on the national broadcaster, suggesting the ABC instinctively took “everyone’s side but Australia’s” and should show “some basic affection for the home team”.
Abbott took issue with the ABC’s reporting of claims by asylum seekers of mistreatment at the hands of the Australian navy, saying journalists should give the navy the benefit of the doubt.
In an interview with conservative radio host Ray Hadley on Wednesday, Abbott also reaffirmed his concerns about the ABC’s collaboration with Guardian Australia on the story that revealed Australian spy agencies’ past efforts to target the phones of the Indonesian president, his wife and inner circle. Those disclosures were based on documents provided by the former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.
The prime minister’s comments add to complaints by conservative politicians and commentators of perceived left-wing bias at the ABC, amid demands in some quarters for funding cuts. Labor figures have previously accused the government of trying to bully the independent ABC to produce more favourable coverage.
Abbott’s remarks were triggered by Hadley’s complaint about the ABC’s recent stories in which asylum seekers claimed to have been mistreated and burned by Australian personnel during turnback operations at sea. Hadley said he and fellow “shock jock” Alan Jones faced regular attacks from the commercial broadcasting regulator, yet the ABC was not held accountable.
Abbott said he could understand the frustration “because at times there does appear to be a double standard in large swaths of our national life”.
“I want the ABC to be a straight news gathering and news reporting organisation and a lot of people feel at the moment the ABC instinctively takes everyone’s side but Australia’s,” the prime minister said.
“I was very worried and concerned a few months back when the ABC seemed to delight in broadcasting allegations by a traitor, this gentleman Snowden, or this individual Snowden, who has betrayed his country and in the process has badly damaged other countries that are friends with the United States. Of course, the ABC didn’t just report what he said; they took the lead in advertising what he said.”
Earlier this month, the US president, Barack Obama, criticised Snowden for disclosing details of government surveillance but announced reforms to the National Security Agency and acknowledged the resulting debate would “make us stronger”.
Abbott said the ABC, like any other news organisation, was entitled to report matters for which there was credible evidence. “But you can’t leap to be critical, you shouldn’t leap to be critical of your own country, and you certainly ought to be prepared to give the Australian navy and its hard-working personnel the benefit of the doubt,” he said.
