It’s been a tough, sad summer.
I like everyone else was horrified by the brutal antisemitic terror attack on the Australian Jewish community at Bondi beach on 14 December as they celebrated Hanukkah. ABC Friends offered our condolences and joined 240 civil society organisations in a statement of solidarity.
As news filtered through of a shooting, I tuned into the ABC News channel and watched for several hours as the news unfolded. I was grateful for its reporting, and to the anchors and journalists who made every effort made to keep us informed. No histrionics, just good solid reporting.
By contrast, within two days of the tragedy the News Corp media began an unrelenting campaign to politicise it, capitalising on Australians’ sadness and fear while targeting the Prime Minister.
The ABC was also in its sights and since then News Corp have ramped up their attacks, taking every opportunity to go after individual journalists. We’re accustomed to News Corp’s obsession with the ABC but using Australia’s worst ever terrorist attack to score cheap points was a new low.
The parliament has now passed strengthened gun control and hate crime laws. The hate crime legislation will give the Minister for Home Affairs new powers to ban organisations. Individuals who are members of those organisations will also be liable to criminal charges.
Writing in the Conversation, Anne Twomey noted that no crime need actually have been committed for the Minister to determine that an organisation has committed a “hate crime.” He need only be satisfied on reasonable grounds that the group has engaged in or been associated with the conduct constituting a “hate crime.”
But the Act’s definition of a hate crime is vague. It may – or may not – include criticism of a country’s actions.
The NSW Council for Civil Liberties said:
“The proposed laws represent a very significant risk to freedom of political communication, free speech, and freedom of association. Further, it is fundamental to the rule of law that the law is accessible.”
Its president, Timothy Roberts, wrote in the Guardian:
“So vague and ill-conceived are these laws that Australia’s leading lawyer – the attorney general, Michelle Rowland – could not readily explain what conduct the laws captured when pressed to do so, including whether protesters expressing criticism of actions of the Israeli government would potentially fall foul of the laws.
“We cannot have criminal laws on our books that the community does not understand. This sort of ambiguous expansion of executive power without reasonable checks and balances only undermines the rule of law.”
While the legislation has been criticised on several grounds, it is the implications for the media and the ABC that should concern us as ABC Friends.
Last year we strongly opposed the recommendation by Jillian Segal, Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, that the government should legislate to terminate public funding where organisations or individuals engage in or facilitate antisemitism. (Segal’s proposed definition of antisemitism included criticism of the government of Israel).
We said that the viability of the public broadcasters and their ability to operate free from intimidation would be threatened if Segal’s plan were implemented. We argued that the envoy’s proposals represent a serious assault on the ABC’s independence and must be rejected.
The new hate crime legislation has raised the stakes.
If criticism – or even reporting – a government’s actions can be interpreted as a hate crime, the law could have a “chilling effect” on the media.
We must do all we can to combat antisemitism and the Australian media should play a role in doing that. But any stifling of the ABC’s capacity to report the news would quickly undermine the trust of the Australian people. Trust is a fragile thing. Once lost, it is difficult to regain.
Independence from political interference is vital if the ABC is to report the news fairly and freely. Anthony Albanese has a solid record of supporting the ABC’s independence. But not all governments are so inclined.
We need tough guarantees to protect the ABC against political interference and ensure that it won’t be punished for reporting the truth.
Sign our petition to protect the ABC against political interference.
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