ABC chief David Anderson hits pause on QAnon link to Scott Morrison

David Anderson has demanded the ­editorial team at Four Corners strengthen its proposed story on Scott Morrison’s alleged association with a follower of the ­discredited QAnon conspiracy theory.

ABC managing director David Anderson speaking at Senate estimates this year.

ABC managing director David Anderson has demanded the ­editorial team at Four Corners strengthen its proposed story on Scott Morrison’s alleged association with a follower of the ­discredited QAnon conspiracy theory, issuing senior journalists at the program with direct “feedback” on the episode.

“On Wednesday, I was provided with a link to a ‘rough cut’ of a Four Corners story about the ­influence of QAnon conspiracy theories in Australian domestic politics which had been endorsed by (ABC) news management,” Mr Anderson wrote in a note to staff on Friday.

“Any suggestion that I ‘pulled’ or ‘blocked’ the program is simply not true. I reviewed the material and made an editorial decision it was not yet ready for broadcast, as any responsible editor-in-chief would.

“My exact words were: ‘Please take on board the feedback and keep going. There is nothing in the program that I can see is time-sensitive. I would like a written ­response next week addressing the feedback.’ I know the team have worked on it for a while now, but frankly I would prefer we took our time to make it as strong as possible.”

It is understood that while the program has been bumped from this coming Monday’s schedule, it may still air at a later date.

On Friday, the Prime Minister said he was deeply offended that the ABC would ­attempt to link him and his family to QAnon – a discredited US far-right conspiracy theory alleging that a cabal of Satanic, cannibalistic pedophiles, with links to the US Democratic Party, is running a global child sex-trafficking ring.

“It is disappointing that Four Corners would seek to cast this aspersion, not just against me but by members of my own family. I just think that is really poor form,” Mr Morrison said.

The timing of Mr Anderson’s decision to delay the airing of the program is significant, given that he will again appear before a Senate estimates hearing on Monday to face questions over the defamation case that was brought by former attorney-general Christian Porter against the ABC.

Mr Anderson will be grilled on the amount of taxpayer money that was spent on the ABC’s legal defence, and what funds were paid to Mr Porter as part of the terms of the settlement.

Victorian Liberal senator and former ABC broadcaster Sarah Henderson, who will be one of several MPs to appear on the ­parliamentary committee on Monday, said she would also be questioning Mr Anderson on the ABC’s social media policy — specifically, its failure to prevent “vile” comments being published on their social media accounts.

“Agreeing to appear on an ABC program such as Q+A means being subjected to a cesspit of extreme left bile and I don’t think that is acceptable,” she said.

Another MP familiar with the parliamentary committee schedule for Monday told The Weekend Australian there were con­cerns the push by Labor senators Nita Green and Catryna Bilyk and Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young to reconvene the estimates hearing was a transparent attempt to air further, untested ­allegations about Mr Porter.

“They’ll use every trick in the book to misuse estimates to put something on the Hansard record before the court has decided if parts of the ABC’s defence in the Porter defamation matter should be made public,” the MP said.

Federal Court judge Jayne Jagot will decide next month whether the defence should be made public.

The ABC did not respond to questions from The Weekend Australian.