Sky News host Peta Credlin lashes ABC for shutting down debate on the Uluru Statement from the Heart

Sky News host Peta Credlin has criticised the ABC for allowing activism journalism to stop legitimate debate in the lead up to the indigenous voice to parliament referendum.

Sky News Australia presenter Peta Credlin.

Sky News host and columnist Peta Credlin has condemned ABC management for stifling “legitimate debate” about the contents of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and allowing activist journalism to be encouraged at the public broadcaster.

The Australian last week revealed that the ABC’s editorial policy chief Mark Maley and high-profile journalist Leigh Sales wrote to all staff and told them the Uluru Statement was a single-page document.

Sales, the former host of ABC’s 7.30 program, also provided colleagues with scripts to use to shut down anyone who presents arguments that contradict that it is longer than one page.

Credlin, who is also a columnist, at The Australian, has repeatedly said that the Uluru Statement is a 26-page document after she received a response to a Freedom of Information request from the National Indigenous Australians Agency containing 26 pages.

An editorial by Credlin on Sky News about the matter was posted on the Sky News Facebook page but removed from the platform after it was labelled “false information” by “independent fact checkers”, from RMIT Uni­versity’s FactLab, who reportedly have a commercial contract with Meta.

Credlin said Australians deserve to understand exactly what is contained in the Uluru Statement document and that it is not the ABC’s role to stop public ­debate.

“What right does ABC head office have to decide what Australians can and can’t know about a critical change to the nation’s Constitution given their taxes pay for the ABC?” the Sky News host asked.

“The only explanation I can see is that the ABC is scared that the more people know and understand, the more questions and concerns they might have about the voice referendum.”

Within the 26-page document is a call for reparations to be paid to Indigenous people.

The ABC’s editorial policies require that the corporation has “editorial independence and integrity” and also a “statutory duty to ensure that the gathering and presentation of news and information is impartial according to the recognised standards of objective journalism”.

Some voice proponents, including Professor Megan Davis, have previously publicly admitted the document is longer than one page.

The ABC's Leigh Sales advised staff

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has repeatedly said the Uluru Statement is a one-page document and admitted he hadn’t read the additional pages.

An ABC spokeswoman said the public broadcaster stood by the information provided by Maley and Sales and it was “using factual information to counter misinformation and errors”.

“We welcome people on the ABC making cases for both the yes and no positions and presenting a range of views and perspectives, but our reporters will correct misinformation,” she said.

FactLab last week overhauled its website and removed numerous links to the ABC, including claims that they work “hand-in-hand” with RMIT ABC Fact Check. Both fact-checking departments are run by director Russell Skelton, an ABC veteran who has republished many tweets in favour of the voice, including some by Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney. He has also posted tweets critical of Opposition Leader Peter Dutton on his account.

Profile pictures and details of Skelton and staff working at the RMIT FactLab have also been removed from the site’s homepage. It now has a new disclaimer at the top which reads: “To keep up with the rapidly changing media landscape, we’re always updating our website. Stay tuned.”

Liberal senator James Paterson has also written to Meta’s director of public policy, Mia Garlick, asking for a full explanation about their approach to content relating to the upcoming referendum, and questioned them about labelling Credlin’s report about the Uluru Statement’s length as false ­information.

ABC Media Watch host Paul Barry

“I acknowledge that Meta engages independent fact-checkers to help counter misinformation, but, as Meta acknowledged before the (Senate) committee, even eminent experts can be wrong,” he said in the letter.

“Even the ABC’s Media Watch program has criticised this fact check. The substance of the Uluru Statement is a legitimate issue on which people of good will can reasonably disagree and should not be restricted on your platform.

“A private company interfering with the free speech of Australians is cause for concern under any ­circumstances.”

On Media Watch last week, host Paul Barry queried the “false information” tag on Credlin’s reports.

“The Uluru Statement is expressed on one page, but there are many more pages of notes and background … where matters like a treaty and reparations are raised,” he said “And given that there may be some point in what Credlin is saying, we think a ‘disputed’ label would be more ­appropriate.”

Senator Paterson has requested information from Meta about the “false information” tag and what measures the platform will adopt to “not further suppress legitimate public debate in the lead-up to the voice referendum”.

Meta was contacted for comment but did not respond.

The ABC’s head of communications Nick Leys wrote to The Australian last week about a column Credlin wrote about the ABC’s links with RMIT and claimed she made “incorrect statements about RMIT ABC Fact Check and should be corrected”.

The ABC was asked to explain the difference between the two groups of fact checkers, given the RMIT FactLab said on its website that it worked “hand-in-hand” with RMIT ABC FactCheck. It did not respond.