For those who missed the story, you can watch the full video online here: http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2016/s4588886.htm
There was also a story that ran nationally on ABC Radio yesterday afternoon, which you can listen to here: http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2016/s4588743.htm
My understanding is that the ABC reporting team have more information they weren’t able to fit into the original story and they are hopefully going to be following up with some further stories including some additional fresh angles not included in the original piece.
I have had a couple people say to me that they felt Hardgrave got too much of a chance to peddle his claims (such as about his wife’s treatment) without having to actually prove any of them. Unfortunately, that’s part of the challenge of providing a balanced report. They had to tell the story from all sides. But anyone who watched the full story would have seen Hardgrave’s arrogant approach shine though. In particular at the 3.55 mark, when responding to censorship on Norfolk Radio, he says “people also have a fundamental right to be stupid” in reference to opponents of the Australian takeover. It captured perfectly his dismissive view of the local community.
The biggest challenge facing the Norfolk Island community is their remoteness, which means few in the media have covered the issue, few Australians know what is going on, and up until recently, not many in the Australian Parliament were aware of the details. Thanks to the ABC visit, there are more than a million people who have seen the story on TV or heard about it on radio. That’s a pretty impressive outcome.
Tim Vollmer
