Shadow communications minister Melissa McIntosh has written to ABC managing director Hugh Marks demanding an investigation into Tony Armstrong's satirical special Always Was Tonight, alleging it may have breached the broadcaster's charter. The show, which aired on 21 January, targeted colonialism and racism against Indigenous Australians.
McIntosh's complaint claims the ABC has a duty to protect multiculturalism and promote social cohesion, particularly after recent events such as the Bondi terrorist attack. However, the ABC's charter does not explicitly require the promotion of social cohesion. The complaint also argues that the broadcaster must editorially justify content likely to cause harm or offence and label it appropriately.
The focus of the complaint is a segment where children sing a song about Indigenous children being incarcerated, titled I Shouldn't Call This Place Home, set to the tune of I Still Call Australia Home. The segment features children inside a prison complex, with one wearing a spithood. Armstrong introduced it by noting that the age of criminal responsibility is 10 in most of Australia, and that Indigenous children are 21 times more likely to be imprisoned than others.
McIntosh described the use of child actors in such scenes as 'grotesque' and a breach of the ABC's Code of Practice. The Greens, however, defended the show, with senator Sarah Hanson-Young calling it 'cutting-edge' and accusing the Liberals of being the 'fun police'. Civil Liberties Australia also criticised the complaint, urging the Liberals to leave comedy to professionals.
The ABC defended the program, stating it sought to examine Indigenous experiences through satire and was 'creative, insightful and sometimes challenging'. The broadcaster emphasised that the safety of child actors was treated with the utmost seriousness, with careful steps taken to inform and protect them.
