Joyce hit for ABC on Anzac activist
Barnaby Joyce has pushed the ABC to take action against Yassmin Abdel-Magied.
Acting Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has pushed the ABC to take action against Muslim activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied, saying her comment calling for people to remember refugees on Anzac Day made it harder to justify the public broadcaster’s funding.
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As pressure mounts on the ABC to axe or censure its part-time television presenter, Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop is also facing calls to dump Abdel-Magied from a key Australian-Arab relations advisory board.
Abdel-Magied has come under fire from both major parties since posting on Anzac Day “LEST. WE. FORGET. (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine ...)”
She removed the Facebook post amid fierce online criticism and issued a brief apology, but Mr Joyce said yesterday the ABC needed to take action.
“They make life exceedingly difficult for people like myself on the expenditure review committee when we’re fighting for funds when issues such as this are brought up to us,” he said.
“You can’t just sweep it under the carpet. It starts to become a sense that the culture of the ABC in some instances is at odds with the culture of Australia … you can’t just have one of your paid presenters making a statement like that.”
Former Coalition minister Eric Abetz has written to Ms Bishop, asking her to exercise her powers to remove Abdel-Magied from the Council for Australian-Arab Relations.
Appointed by Ms Bishop to the council’s board in 2015, Abdel-Magied is paid for attending meetings and other council work. “Ms Abdel-Magied has demonstrated that she is unfit and lacks the judgement to build stronger Australian-Arab relations and as a result her appointment should be terminated as a matter of urgency,” Senator Abetz said.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott said he was “appalled” that an ABC personality would take Abdel-Magied’s position on Anzac Day.
“The ABC is supposed to support Australia, it’s supposed to support Australian values and there’s nothing more Australian, nothing more sacred, than the commemoration of Anzac Day,” he told radio station 2GB.
“You’ve got to join Team Australia, you’ve got to accept our core culture, you’ve got to accept our fundamental values, and this idea that Anzac Day should be turned into some kind of crass political stunt is just appalling.”
The ABC declined to comment yesterday, standing by its initial response that Abdel-Magied was only required to adhere to ABC policies “when presenting for the ABC”.
Meanwhile, The Australian Women’s Weekly remained silent on whether Abdel-Magied would still join the Foreign Minister and Lucy Turnbull on a high-profile panel judging its “women of the future”.
Bill Shorten said Abdel-Magied’s comments were “very insensitive” but she should not lose her position with the ABC, where she hosts Australia Wide.
Queensland Coalition MP George Christensen called for her sacking, while One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said the Facebook post showed the federal government’s new citizenship test should ask applicants whether they respect Anzac Day.
Abdel-Magied did not respond to request for comment yesterday.
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