ABC forced to apologise after Insiders panellist claimed Nats MPs deserted electorates

The national broadcaster was forced to make an embarrassing apology after one of its federal politics reporters accused MPs of deserting their electorates during the floods crisis.

ABC Insiders panellist Claudia Long.

The ABC has been forced to apologise for comments made by one of its reporters accusing two Nationals MPs of abandoning their communities during floods that have now claimed the lives of five people.

Federal politics reporter Claudia Long, who is a regular panellist on the national broadcaster’s Insiders program, suggested Nationals MPs had deserted their electorates dealing with the party’s fallout with the Liberals in Canberra.

“I think the other thing that’s probably really important to regional communities is that they have a local member who’s there when their electorate is, for example, flooding and people are dying,” she told Insiders yesterday.

Nationals MP Alison Penfold in Taree on Saturday, helping with flood efforts in her federal seat of Lyne. Picture: Facebook

Ms Long went on to single out Alison Penfold’s seat of Lyne where two people have now lost their lives, and Pat Conaghan’s seat of Cowper where a 60-year-old woman was found dead in her car.

“We’ve seen the Nationals doing … all of this in Canberra,” she claimed.

“But I think the important thing is that when you’re in opposition, it’s also still your job to be a local member and represent your communities.”

Contrary to Ms Long’s claims, both members spent the entire week in their electorates helping local communities deal with the fallout of the floods.

National's MP Pat Conaghan, right, checking in with Port Macquarie locals in his seat of Cowper on Saturday. Picture: Facebook

Mr Conaghan was joined by Nationals leader David Littleproud in his electorate on Friday, with the pair spending the day meeting with business owners, farmers and first responders, before the member for Cowper joined the clean-up effort in Port Macquarie over the weekend.

Similarly Ms Penfold spent the week providing live updates from various parts of mid-north NSW before making her way into Taree over the weekend, meeting with SES personnel and helping clean out the Taree aquatic club.

Aunty has since issued an apology for the panellist’s comments and removed them from the program’s on-demand version.

“On the Insiders episode broadcast on 25 May an ABC panellist made comments inferring two Nationals MPs, Alison Penfold and Pat Conaghan, were not in their electorates during the recent NSW floods,” the ABC statement read.

“The ABC wishes to clarify that both Penfold and Conaghan spent the week in their electorates and sincerely apologises for the error.”