There were many noteworthy elements to the back-and-forth between Peter Dutton and the ABC’s Lee Robinson during the opposition leader’s visit to Alice Springs this week. Much of it was contained in the following volley, unleashed when Robinson tried to draw Dutton on what statistics he was using to back his claims around “rampant child sexual abuse” in the area:
“Do you live locally?” Dutton retorted. “I mean, do you speak to people on the streets? Do you hear what it is they’re saying to you?”
There was of course the irony of Dutton, a professional politician of more than 20 years, who doesn’t live in the area, interrogating a local reporter as though they’re the out-of-towner elitist.
Then there’s the suggestive choice of one of the local voices Dutton platformed: local baker Darren Clarke, who was behind the influential Alice Springs crime Facebook page, Action for Alice 2020. The page predominantly posted about alleged crimes committed by Indigenous peoples, fuelling racist commentary and calls for vigilante justice from its 60,000 followers. It was eventually suspended for “bullying and harassment”.
But there’s also the fact he prefaced all this with “that is such an ABC question”. As such, Dutton joins a long line of hard-right conservatives who actively try to undermine trust in the ABC.
Going back to Robert Menzies’ contention that “I have never been persona grata with the ABC, nor the ABC with me” and peaking absurdly with Tony Abbott’s argument the ABC is “taking everyone’s side but Australia’s”, it seems based on a fantasy there’s a majority of voters anywhere in Australia who buy into this idea that the ABC is a hotbed of leftie sedition.
Crikey never shies away from criticising the ABC when it’s warranted, but the simple fact remains: time after time, poll after poll, the most trusted news source in Australia is the ABC. It’s a sign that Dutton, whatever rebranding he does, seems to see the Abbott option as the quickest way out of opposition. Which, let’s face it, doesn’t bode well for the next three years.
