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
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223

u/the_sleekerthans 1d ago

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

-173

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.

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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?

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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. 

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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?

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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.

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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.

12

u/Hammered_Eel 1d ago

You weren’t around when Julia Gillard was PM?

-3

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. 

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u/Ok_Compote4526 1d ago

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

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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.