Channel 7 reporter and EV influencer square up during heated argument
A Channel 7 journalist and an electric vehicle influencer got into a tense argument in front of cameras at an auto show.
A Channel 7 journalist and an electric vehicle influencer got in a fiery exchange during filming for an expose on Chinese-backed Indonesian nickel mining for EV batteries.
Liam Bartlett, chief correspondent of 7News Spotlight, was going back and forth with Australian climate change and energy minister Chris Bowen at a press conference when YouTuber Sam Evans stepped in to wrap the reporter up, prompting Mr Bowen to end the media opportunity.
As Mr Bowen walked away, Bartlett followed him.
“I’ve given you a very good go,” the minister said. Bartlett was asked to sit down another time, to which the minister said he’d consider it – but Spotlight reported this request was ultimately denied.
A frustrated Bartlett confronted Mr Evans, who is known as the ‘Electric Viking’, about his authority to end Mr Bowen’s press conference, in footage captured by the show.
“Hey mate, I don’t appreciate that,” Bartlett told Mr Evans. “I’m talking to a minister of the crown.”
In the edited clip, Mr Evans could be seen prodding a finger at the reporter’s chest.
Another man appeared, seemingly to defuse the situation.
“Who is this guy?” Bartlett asked about Mr Evans.
“Do you think you’re going to get anywhere by doing that?” Mr Evans said.
“Who is this guy? Who is he? Who is he to step between the media and a minister of the crown?” Bartlett pressed.
The reporter and EV influencer, who Mr Bartlett later would discover calls himself the “The Electric Viking” and has almost 300,000 YouTube subscribers, continued to argue.
“Let’s go, go on, let’s go” Mr Evans said.
“Get out of my face, pal,” Bartlett warned.
“You got in my face,” Mr Evans snapped back.
“You want to do it on camera? You really want to do this?” Bartlett said.
Spotlight showed Mr Evans eventually walking away from the confrontation.
Spotlight’s investigation looked into the environmental impact and workplace deaths and injury incidents at Morowali Industrial Park and Weda Bay Industrial Park, two nickel processing facilities in Indonesia.
Union official Jay Jaelani told the program: “Our workers are dying for electric vehicles.”
On a “risky” visit to Morowali, Bartlett told the camera: “There are no serious rules and regulations. There are no serious safety protocols.
“But if you’re serious about environmental protection, think about this: This place produces almost 11 times the amount of greenhouse gases to produce the same battery as you would for an equivalent production process in Australia, and that is why they call this dirty nickel.”
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When asked if Australia was talking to China about the “dirty nickel”, Mr Bowen said there was “a range of discussions” and the government had “regularised relations with China”.
“It’s better to have discussions with China rather than not have discussions with China, which was the case under the previous government,” Mr Bowen replied.
The minister said he had been “very clear” that his preference was Australian nickel being used to make electric vehicles being sold to Australians.
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