ABC reporter Dana Morse makes bizarre ‘genocide’ claim

An ABC reporter has come under fire for falsely claiming Indigenous Australians are subject to “ongoing genocide”.

An ABC reporter has come under fire for making a bizarre, false claim, on the public broadcaster’s flagship weekend political show, that Indigenous Australians are subject to “ongoing genocide”.

Dana Morse, a federal politics reporter for the ABC, made the comments on Sunday’s Insiders program, while speaking about the Indigenous voice to parliament and its proposed powers.

“But to speak to the issue of January 26, what are people protesting about on January 26?” she said.

"Division and doubt."

What was the Opposition's strategy on the Indigenous Voice in question time this week, and did it work?

The #Insiders panel discuss #auspolpic.twitter.com/Yv02nR0eKI

— ABC News (@abcnews) June 24, 2023

“They are protesting about the invasion, they are protesting about the genocide of Aboriginal people that is ongoing today.”

Her comments went unchallenged by Insiders host David Speers.

The ABC later tweeted out Ms Morse’s statements, but edited out her genocide claims. Instead, the clip it posted showed her hitting out at the federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s strategy regarding The Voice referendum debate, accusing him of “sowing division and doubt”.

Opposition Indigenous affairs spokeswoman Jacinta Price slammed the ABC, telling The Australian the national broadcaster needs to “rein in their activist employees”.

Political reporter Dana Morse made the allegation on Insiders.

“There is no genocide being perpetrated today, and comments saying there is have no place on public airwaves,” she said.

“I’ve called on the ABC ­previously to control their staff and ensure balanced and impartial voice commentary, but once again an ABC so-called reporter has been allowed to spew divisive and false information without being pulled up by the host.

Dana Morse. Picture: LinkedIn / Dana Morse

“The No campaign has tried to work with the ABC to ensure ­balance. I personally have done six ABC appearances on TV and radio in less than a week, but their bias in this referendum is still on full display and the ABC bosses must do more to rein in their activist employees.”

Fellow No campaign leader Warren Mundine labelled the comments “rubbish”.

“There’s no genocide happening. In fact, the last 56 years since the ’67 referendum, the improvement for Aboriginal people and the opportunities and equality … is just something my parents and grandparents dreamt of,” he said.

You can’t ignore the difference between how a black and a white woman were treated when making allegations about sexual assault/harassment in the parliament. Yet another example of the systemic racism @SenatorThorpe has shone a light on time and again. #insiders

— Dana Morse (@DanaMorse_) June 17, 2023

“There’s no genocide happening today. And if she’s got evidence of that, then let her … point it out … they should call her in, because it’s just a whole pack of lies and nonsense.”

Ms Morse, whose Twitter bio states she is a Plangermaireener woman, frequently tweets about race issues.

Last week, she tweeted about Senator Lidia Thorpe’s recent allegations about sexual harassment by a since-resigned Liberal Party Senator, David Van, in federal parliament.

“You can’t ignore the difference between how a black and a white woman were treated when making allegations about sexual assault/harassment in the parliament,” she wrote.

This isn’t the first time the ABC’s coverage of Indigenous issues has been criticised.

In February, the national broadcaster issued a partial apology for its coverage of the Alice Springs crime wave, acknowledging it had been “incomplete”.

The apology came after reporter Carly Williams failed to provide the full context regarding a meeting held between townsfolk in the crisis-riddled town.

-with staff writers