Susie O’Brien: Heads should roll at ABC over coronation coverage

There are many important conversations we must have about the bloated British monarchy but viewers tuning in to watch the coronation didn’t want tales of genocide shoved down their throats.

Heads should roll at the ABC over the disgraceful and divisive coverage of the King’s Coronation on Saturday night.

Viewers who tuned in to watch the spectacle on Saturday night did not want a vicious diatribe about the monarchy’s extermination of Indigenous Australians.

They wanted to enjoy the sight of guests arriving at the historic Westminster Abbey, not have tales of genocide shoved down their throats by Q+A host Stan Grant.

Instead of hearing about who was arriving, they instead got Grant talking about “broken bones and damaged souls”.

How disrespectful for the charity heads and foreign dignitaries arriving at this time.

Program bosses at the taxpayer-funded network should not have scheduled the program titled “The Coronation: A discussion about the Monarchy in 2023” that dominated by outspoken republicans and Indigenous anti-monarchists.

The program also included Craig Foster, the head of the Australian Republican Movement, forcing viewers to switch channels in droves.

It’s no wonder both Channels Seven and Nine both beat the ABC in the ratings.

Grant, mind you, has a new book to push called The Queen is Dead, and generous airtime has already been devoted to his perspectives.

Craig Foster, Liberal MP Julian Lesser, Jeremy Fernandez and Julia Baird and Stan Grant discuss the coronation.

A brutal diatribe written by him was also published by the ABC on Saturday, suggesting that “to take this coronation seriously would be to try to make sense of an Australian prime minister pledging his allegiance to a Crown that tried to exterminate my people.”

Grant was very outspoken about his “betrayal” by the ABC in the way it mourned the Queen, but it seems the network now going overboard in its promotion of his views.

While I personally agree with some of Grant’s opinions about the dark colonial history of the monarchy, Saturday night was very much the wrong time for him to air these views.

While the program officially came before the coronation, it was aired at a time when other networks had already started their coverage of the event.

ABC heads should be accountable for spoiling this event for so many people who just wanted to relax and enjoy the pomp and ceremony on wintry weekend night.

The issue should also be addressed head-on by former royal wedding TV network host Ita Buttrose, who is the ABC chairwoman. Buttrose has so far dodged questions on the matter, but owes Australians an explanation.

There are many important conversations we need to have about the bloated, wealthy British monarchy and the way the it preached inclusion, diversity and democracy, but had anti-royalist protestors arrested along the parade route. The fact that the gap between the billion-dollar royals and the rest of us has never been greater in financial terms.

And the fact that the monarchy has supposedly been “slimmed-down” but still owns vast estates across the empire.

As Australia heads inevitably towards a republic, I welcome such scrutiny of the British Royal Family. However, Saturday was a night to enjoy the celebration, not focus on extermination.

As Foster said on Saturday night, “everyone is accountable”.

Everyone, it seems, except Buttrose and the ABC.