MICHELLE ROWLAND MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS
MEMBER FOR GREENWAY
 
 
MORRISON MUST STOP ABUSE OF POWER IN CANBERRA
 

Scott Morrison must pull the Minister for Communications into line for abusing his role by threatening the ABC Board over the Four Corners episode Inside the Canberra Bubble.  
 
Anything less is to condone Government interference with the independent national broadcaster and Ministerial impropriety.
 
The ABC is doing its job by holding power to account with public interest reporting.
 
Paul Fletcher is failing his job as the Minister responsible for the independent ABC.
  
His disgraceful letter to the Chair of the ABC, conveyed by tweet, is a display of incompetence.
  
According to reports, Chair Ita Buttrose feels “disrespected” by the Minister’s actions and has replied expressing concerns that the behaviour of the Morrison Government “smacks of political interference”.
 
It is completely unacceptable in our democracy for the Minister to call on the ABC Board to “show cause” for a program that exposes serious issues around workplace culture and Ministerial behaviour in the age of the Me Too movement.
  
Paul Fletcher turned this issue into a circus. Now Scott Morrison must pull this clown into line.
 
TUESDAY, 15 DECEMBER 2020