Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has called for a purge of ABC personalities in the wake of the broadcaster's decision to axe Yassmin Abdel-Magied's program, which he welcomed as "a good start".
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Dutton's issue with the ABC
There's a cultural problem at the ABC according to conservative MP Peter Dutton who is happy to see Yassmin Abdel-Magied's program axed.
"One down, many to go," Mr Dutton told 2GB radio's Ray Hadley during their regular Thursday morning interview, in comments that were repudiated by Labor.
Mr Dutton reserved particular opprobrium for the Q&A; program and its host, senior ABC journalist Tony Jones, which he said exemplified a cultural problem at the public broadcaster.
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Hadley and Mr Dutton were infuriated by an exchange on Monday's episode, before the Manchester bombing, between Jones and visiting physicist Lawrence Krauss on the likelihood of Westerners becoming victims of terrorism.
Krauss: "The real people who are in danger from Muslim terrorists are in the Muslim countries."
Jones: "I suppose, if you're a young black American, you're more likely to be killed by a policeman."
Mr Dutton, a regular critic of the ABC, blasted Jones and the program despite admitting that he does not watch it.
"It's a cultural problem at the ABC and the board needs to deal with it," he said.
"Tony Jones, who is obviously a well-credentialled, experienced journalist – his behaviour in that instance, I think is a disgrace.
"I actually think there is a fundamental problem with the ABC, particularly around Q&A; – the composition of the audience, the selection of these people on the panel and the direction it's given by Tony Jones.
"I don't watch it and it's a waste of taxpayers' money. You're right, you've raised my blood pressure."
Mr Dutton said air time should be given to the victims of crime and the families left behind, rather than "some academics or people who seek to get their face on Q&A;".
Hadley dismissed Professor Krauss as "some sort of academic from somewhere in the United States", and suggested it would be "handy" if Mr Dutton could cancel his visa.
Labor leader Bill Shorten said Mr Dutton and other ministers should "keep their hands off the ABC", despite its capacity to annoy politicians of all stripes on occasion.
"The ABC should not be told what to do or who to hire by any politician in this country," he said. "Australia doesn't need politicians deciding which journalist gets the right to exercise free speech."
Coalition MPs regularly appear on Q&A; but have long held the view that it is biased toward the left wing of politics. In 2015, then prime minister Tony Abbott ordered his ministers to boycott the program after producers allowed former terror suspect Zaky Mallah to ask a question of the panel.Â
Earlier that year, Liberal National senator James McGrath said "any Coalition MP" would argue the program was biased against the right - criticism the ABC contests.
On Wednesday the broadcaster axed Abdel-Magied's program Australia Wide, weeks after the Muslim activist and former engineer came under heavy criticism from conservative quarters over an Anzac Day post on Facebook.
The ABC said the decision was unrelated to the political controversy surrounding Abdel-Magied and had been under consideration "for some time".
The broadcaster is exploring further opportunities to work with Abdel-Magied, an ABC spokeswoman told Fairfax Media.
On Tuesday the ABC was the target of a shocking column in conservative magazine Quadrant, in which online editor Roger Franklin wrote: "Had there been a shred of justice, that [Manchester] blast would have detonated in an Ultimo TV studio."
Editor-in-chief Keith Windschuttle has since issued an apology, while one of the magazine's board members, Nick Cater, said the piece was a "despicable thing to write".
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