Free TV chief Harold Mitchell defends Father’s Day ad stance

The chair of Free TV Australia has slammed the government’s postal plebiscite as ‘very expensive rubbish’.

Free TV chair Harold Mitchell. Picture: Kym Smith

The chair of Free TV Australia — the group that knocked back an annual Father’s Day tribute because it lacked a “political authorisation” tag — has slammed the government’s postal plebiscite as “very expensive rubbish”.

Free TV chair Harold Mitchell has blasted the ballot, saying it had failed to “pass the pub test”. Coalition MPs yesterday questioned if Qantas and other companies would face advertising restrictions for supporting the Yes campaign in the same-sex marriage debate.

Writing in The Sydney Morning Herald on August 17, Mr Mitchell said: “From all I talk to, more than two-thirds of Australians believe in same-sex marriage or whatever else you want to call it.”

“This deeply flawed poll seems more designed to trip up the public’s attitude, rather than reflect it.”

Questioned by The Australian yesterday, Mr Mitchell said his personal view and the decision by Free TV to insist not-for-profit group Dads4Kids include a “political authorisation” tag at the end of its Father’s Day tribute for the first time in 15 years were unrelated.

“They are in no way linked,” he said. “We have a set of regulations and we follow the regulations that we have to.”

The Australian was told a “political authorisation” tag was needed as the advertisement linked to the Dads4Kids website and the political climate had changed.

Tasmanian Liberal senator Eric Abetz questioned whether Qantas advertisements would also require a political authorisation tag given the strong statements of its chief executive, Alan Joyce.

West Australian Liberal MP Andrew Hastie said the decision to insist on an authorisation tag was a “very worrying trend”.