Green Smears by the ABC

Yesterday, I received an apology from their ABC.

It was in response to a program they aired that contained what I consider defamatory statements about me by Green Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

Those accusations are demonstrably false, but that isn't why the ABC apologised.

The apology came about because there was an open and shut case that the ABC failed to comply with their own Code of Practice and Editorial Policies.

Both of these documents state:

Where allegations are made about a person or organisation, make reasonable efforts in the circumstances to provide a fair opportunity to respond.

The ABC made no effort to contact me before airing the appalling and defamatory allegations of Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

Their error is compounded by the fact that every claim by this Greens Senator can be easily countered by reference to publicly available video and transcripts.

Instead of examining them and seeking comment, the ABC misrepresented standard senate procedure to support and endorse Hanson-Young's claims without question.

They did so through 'team consideration', which effectively declared me guilty of the smears without trial.

Here is some of what the complaints department sent to me.

The program team has advised it considered that it had taken steps to corroborate Senator Hanson-Young’s comments, including by carefully reviewing the relevant footage of proceedings in the Senate chamber (and incorporating relevant excerpts within the program), and on that basis did not need to seek your response. That approach was incorrect...

Although I know the allegations to be false, I decided to examine the same footage available to the ABC. I also read the written record of the Senate.

If they genuinely did examine the evidence, then it is clear that the ABC only saw what they wanted to see and ignored the inconvenient.

It was a hit piece clearly motivated by malice and a pre-determined narrative.

The damage is even more egregious since I have known the journalist involved, Annabel Crabb, for decades, and she has my personal mobile number.

A phone call would have cleared it all up so the lies never went to air, or if they dared do so, there would have at least been some balancing commentary.

The entire saga is an indictment on everyone involved. The defamatory nature of the false account and the widespread promotion by the ABC media behemoth has been the source of great personal and professional pain.

All will now be called to account for their actions, including Sarah Hanson-Young.

While this recent event happened to me, I am not the first conservative to be targeted by this woke taxpayer-funded mob.

I am just the latest victim.

Cardinal George Pell, Andrew Laming MP, and Minister Christian Porter are just some high-profile targets the ABC have pursued unjustly.

Taxpayers have footed a massive bill for such insouciance.

And yet the ABC continues its agenda with scant regard for the wreckage it leaves behind. They know another billion dollars of borrowed money flows their way yearly.

It's borrowed money that every taxpayer will have to repay.

While that will frustrate many of us, it isn't the worst of it.

They have unparalleled reach in broadcasting through radio, television and digital. They have no commercial or ratings constraints. They have no funding constraints, and, like every left collective, they back in their people come hell or high water.

That needs to change, but only the government can force that change.

If this deliberate disregard by the ABC for their own Code of Practice doesn't prompt some accountability and government action, then I suspect nothing will.