The Monday night of edition of the ABC’s 4 Corners program shone a light on government minister’s interactions with staff members.
The program led to MP Alan Tudge admitting that while he was presenting himself as a ‘traditional family values’ politician, he was also having an extra-martial affair with one of his staffers.
Since the program was broadcast the ABC has been criticised by conservatives for bias because the program focused on government ministers, and a few MPs, and former MPs, have been sharing their thoughts on how the topic should have been covered.
Appearing on the Sky News program The Bolt Report, former Liberal defector Cory Bernardi said there needed to be an investigation into “closeted gay members of parliament.”
Branding the ABC report as “a disgrace” the former right-wing politician said while some politicians raise concern about the behaviour of Liberal MPs, they were hypocrites for not pursuing gay MPs.
“The same cabal of people who are saying women are being targeted, want to ignore some of the closeted gay members of parliament who also have relationships with male staffers.” Bernardi said.
Senator James Paterson who was appearing on the same segment of the show said the ABC needed to justify why it had only reported on Liberal ministers who were acting inappropriately.
“Do they seriously think that of all the imperfect human beings in Canberra, of which there are many of which we are all at sometimes imperfect, that they are only on the Liberal side of politics?” That there are none on the Labor side of politics? That there are none in the Greens and there’s none on the crossbench?
Earlier in the day Senator Gerard Rennick appeared on Sky News and said journalists and members of the media should stop being “self righteous” and first look at their own behaviour, arguing that the ABC’s report was not in the public interest.
“Plenty of journalists go out drinking and bonking and all the rest of it as well.” Senator Rennick said. “So it’s double standards on that factor.”
The senator said the ABC’s Managing Director David Anderson needed to reflect on his bias, and the bias of the organisation’s news and current affairs department.
Senator Rennick said that he accepted that if the Ministerial Code of Conduct had been broken members of the media may consider it worth reporting, but his personal view was that politician’s private lives should be out of bounds.
“Do we have a journalistic code of conduct on who can hang out with who?” Rennick asked.
OIP Staff
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