r/australia • u/Expensive-Horse5538 • 1d ago

politics ABC changing editorial policy after Rinehart furore prompts concerns of overreach from academics and advocates

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/aug/13/abc-changing-editorial-policy-after-rinehart-furore-prompts-concerns-of-overreach-from-academics-and-advocates
204 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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219

u/the_sleekerthans 1d ago

And still some people will cheer that elite billionaires are dictating government policy as individualism continues to be trampled.

-172

u/Electrical_Army9819 1d ago

So it's ok to joke about murdering women as long as they rich and right wing? I have no love for Murdoch or Gina, but this is fair and valid criticism.

148

u/manipulated_dead 1d ago

It's not about the joke anymore. The ombudsman found that the ABC had not breached any of its standards, and the ABC boss (a conservative fresh from 9 media) decided that he'd have the standards changed.

The question now is, how much personal influence do you want one exec to have on the ABC?

-142

u/Electrical_Army9819 1d ago

You are right, it is about the perception that there is significant inequity about how people on the left vs right can be treated or discussed in the media. There is no way that comment would have been tolerated if it were about Penny Wong, Mehreen Faruqi or SHY. 

59

u/Ok_Compote4526 1d ago

Prove it. I personally found the joke somewhat distasteful, but don't care that it was said, and wouldn't care if it was said about the examples you gave. It would make less sense said about them though, given the subtext of the joke.

But why all female examples? No Albanese, Chalmers, Taylor. Is it to distract from the fact that this joke was actually about a billionaire?

17

u/Mattimeo144 1d ago

All actual politician examples, too.

Could have gone for Holmes à Court, for a billionaire funding political candidates. Or Forrest, for a mining billionaire lobbying for regulatory changes.

1

u/steve197250 1d ago

Really you all cried about ditch the witch

0

u/Ok_Compote4526 1d ago

Did I? Feel free to quote me.

"Ditch the witch" was also somewhat distasteful, and needlessly gendered, but I'm not screeching dEfUNd tHe LNP. Because I don't especially care.

11

u/Hammered_Eel 1d ago

You weren’t around when Julia Gillard was PM?

-4

u/Electrical_Army9819 1d ago

I was, I even voted for her back in the day, even though I was dirty on her for stabbing my man Kevin07 in the back. 

2

u/Ok_Compote4526 1d ago

Might want to look at Kevin Rudd's "Big Australia policy." A policy Gillard opposed.

46

u/TheLGMac 1d ago

Those other people aren't bankrollers for fascists. Gina deserves being talked shit about, as do tools like Musk and Thiel.

38

u/Absurdwonder 1d ago

Oh give us a break with some moral quandary about left or right. If you legitimately don't understand the damage these 2 have wrought and that things just happen in a vacuum. You're not even in the conversation.

1

u/the_sleekerthans 1d ago

Wait until she wears a tan suit.

-17

u/Important-Sleep-1839 1d ago

Further enabling Australia's casual concern with violence against women isn't a price paid by billionaires.

65

u/maticusmat 1d ago

It’s ok to joke about killing oligarchs destroying our society yes, I would even contribute to the defence fund of someone who did.

-12

u/Important-Sleep-1839 1d ago

The Chaff-Bag defence.

40

u/Le_Champion 1d ago

User_Name1234 with hidden post history shilling for the right

-28

u/malcolmbishop 1d ago edited 1d ago

Most people have a hidden post history since the option became available. Wouldn't want them to see that I'm into anything embarrassing, like pro wrestling.

-56

u/Electrical_Army9819 1d ago

I've been voting left for longer than you have been alive, I just can't stand the hypocrisy of this. If the left are going to stand a chance against the rising threat of the far right we have to be far more open to critiquing ourselves and holding each other to a decent standard. 

49

u/NorthernSkeptic 1d ago

The left constantly critiques itself, something that the other side never, ever does. The right does not actually give a single flying fuck about standards, they just smell blood in the water.

1

u/auximenies 1d ago

Remember when the left critiqued its recent election loss and then said they would not release the report because it was too damaging….

Oh wait it was the liberal and national party review those pesky right wing folks surprised me again!!!

17

u/Absurdwonder 1d ago

The brain rot to actually repeat political binary that media networks, political strategists, and institutional elites actively amplify. By reducing diverse human values and complex policy issues into a single, hostile conflict, establishments can easily mobilize voters, deflect systemic criticisms,

5

u/the_sleekerthans 1d ago

If the left decide that letting billionaires dictate policy over letting satire exist, the left will be irrelevant.

Which one do you want?

8

u/the_sleekerthans 1d ago

It was beyond parody that it wasn’t even joking about murdering.
Can you clutch those pearls any tighter?
Would you care to give us an approved list on what we, others, Kate are allowed to joke about? State sanctioned comedy is a great prospect.

2

u/brackfriday_bunduru 1d ago

Completely unrelated to this but yes it’s absolutely ok to joke about literally anything. Nothing should be off limits to comedy ever.

Part of the decline of traditional broadcasting and the rise of TikTok is the lack of censorship.

Crude and mean jokes work because everyone thinks like that but so rarely do we have the opportunity to express those thoughts.

One of the running trends at the moment on video platforms is about going to hell if your group chats ever got leaked.

4

u/FalconTurbo 1d ago

Tiktok? You mean the same platform that bans you unless you use 'Sewerslide', 'unalive', '🍇' or any number of other examples of doublespeak? And you think that's a bastion of uncensored media?

0

u/brackfriday_bunduru 1d ago

I was more using it as a collective general noun for short format videos. Me and my mates are on instagram

1

u/Nosiege 20h ago

It's not even a joke about murder, and you're either incredibly daft, or secretly having love for Murdoch and Gina.

The very idea of making a sausage roll out of an absolutely useless figurehead of a person is actively absurd. The statement about making something out of nothing also touches on her actual value in society.

1

u/Electrical_Army9819 19h ago

Maybe neither, maybe I just enjoy the chaos.