Media Watch Dog: Peter Dutton and Jacinta Price cop hostile interviews as the ABC gives Albo an easy ride, while the Gucci Teals get more free PR
Softball interviews with Anthony Albanese and Richard Marles are being aired alongside aggressive interrogations of senior Coalition figures as the ABC's left-wing media machine enters overdrive ahead of polling day, writes Gerard Henderson.
5 | ABC has demonstrated it is 'unprofessional and unfair' towards Peter Dutton |
05:16
Peter Dutton in a ‘world of trouble’ unless he can take ‘momentum’
05:34
Election race still ‘very tight’ for Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese
09:05
‘Cash cow’: Victoria’s war against property investors
02:45
Anthony Albanese's 'confidence shaken' following ABC debate
01:37
Increased UK military security a sign of 'growing nervousness' across ...
01:58
‘Estrogen enema’: Kinsey Schofield on Gayle King’s Blue Origin spacefl...
03:45
‘Mind is blown’: Elon Musk attempts to conceal his paternity to 14th child
STOP PRESS
GUCCI TEAL, ZOE DANIEL (EX-ABC) GETS MORE FREE PUBLICITY ON THE ABC
Just when avid Media Watch Dog readers thought it was safe to assume that ABC journalists might scale back their favouritism of the Teals in the lead up to the election – Gucci Teal and former ABC journalist Zoe Daniel got another run on ABC on the morning of Friday 11 April.
The line was that the Teal MP for the marginal seat of Goldstein in Melbourne had something to say about the AUKUS submarine proposal with respect to the Trump administration’s intentions.
Ms Daniel is one of more than a dozen Independents in the House of Representatives and has little policy clout.
After a brief discussion on the advertised topic, presenter Sally Sara turned the discussion to how her former ABC comrade was doing in Goldstein in the lead-up to the election.
And then to what the Gucci Teal thinks about the Coalition’s policy on motor vehicle emissions.
Spoiler Alert!
5 | Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese both pledge to return Port of Darwin to Australian control |
02:22
Migration ‘not’ a priority for MP Dai Le and her community
06:20
The Coalition needs a ‘wakeup call’ in response to climate change answ...
03:35
Albanese slams Coalition for 'wasting' 10 years in government
02:14
‘Be open and honest’: Dutton takes aim at Albanese on negative gearing
11:33
Negative gearing 'not part of our policies': Richard Marles
07:00
Dai Le slams Labor over ‘inexperienced’ candidate pick for seat of Fowler
06:02
Jason Clare slams Dutton on ‘dodgy policies’ and ‘dodgy candidates’
Comrade Daniel does not support the Coalition.
And then it was goodbye from Sally Sara – after receiving circa seven minutes of free publicity per courtesy of the taxpayer funded public broadcaster.
CAN YOU BEAR IT?
- ABC CHAIR KIM WILLIAMS WANTS MORE MONEY FOR SPACE BUT DOESN’T KNOW HOW MUCH OR WHERE THE MONEY IS COMING FROM
Believe it or not [I will believe it. – MWD Editor], Media Watch Dog has not been asked to appear in the Australian Financial Review’s “Vote 2025: My big policy pitch” segment.
However, Ellie’s (male) co-owner reads this segment – since he likes being aware of the sermons of others.
On April 5-6, it was the ABC chair Kim Williams’ turn to pitch about what governments SHOULD DO.
Here’s how the segment was introduced:
ABC chairman Kim Williams will take any opportunity to pitch for fresh investment in the nation’s public broadcaster.
But other than increasing the ABC’s $1.02 billion in funding this year, what would he argue is a policy Australia should pursue?
Space, he tells Sam Buckingham-Jones.
Quelle Surprise!
The chair of the taxpayer funded public broadcaster wants more taxpayers’ money to go to the ABC – a Conservative Free Zone (despite the fact that lotsa conservatives pay taxes).
But there was more.
Your man Williams wants extra money for the Australian Space Agency and more besides.
Let’s go to the transcript:
Investment in a lighthouse science endeavour with purpose and sustained commitment will enable and reinforce partnerships in Australian industry, investment and science in durably meaningful ways.
Space is something worthy of really serious consideration to restore Australian aspiration and delivery with long-term benefits which are firmly future-focused.
How much would it cost?
On this, Williams is not going to lie – he doesn’t know exactly how much this would cost.
Quite possibly a fair bit of money, but there would likely be a vast pool of private investment available.
“I’m simply not in a position to answer this question.”
What would you scrap to pay for it?
Again, this is not something he can effectively answer, except to say that: “In terms of science and maths and the future, I think space is something that gets kicked into the long grass.”
So, there you have it.
Kim Williams wants more taxpayers’ money spent on space.
But he does not know how much taxpayers’ funding is required.
And he has not the faintest idea how it would be funded.
Except to say something about space getting “kicked into the long grass”.
5 | ABC blatantly showcases Teals in new Q+A ad |
05:16
Peter Dutton in a ‘world of trouble’ unless he can take ‘momentum’
05:34
Election race still ‘very tight’ for Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese
09:05
‘Cash cow’: Victoria’s war against property investors
02:45
Anthony Albanese's 'confidence shaken' following ABC debate
01:37
Increased UK military security a sign of 'growing nervousness' across ...
01:58
‘Estrogen enema’: Kinsey Schofield on Gayle King’s Blue Origin spacefl...
03:45
‘Mind is blown’: Elon Musk attempts to conceal his paternity to 14th child
How very ABC.
Which raises the question: Can You Bear It?
[Er, no. Now that you’ve asked. Perhaps Mr Williams AM, AB (Always Begging), should get off the grass and recognise that Australia is in considerable debt with projected government deficits predicted years in advance. For example, in Budget Paper No 1 (in the Budget 2025-26), the Commonwealth Budget is estimated to remain in structural deficit until at least 2035. – MWD Editor.]
- ANU’S MARK KENNY THROWS THE SWITCH TO IGNORANCE IN ATTACKING PETER DUTTON ABOUT KIRRIBILLI HOUSE
In recent times there has been considerable media interest in an unimportant topic.
Namely, what Peter Dutton chooses to call home if he happens to become prime minister after the 3 May election.
That is, which of Australia’s official residences – the Lodge in Canberra or Kirribilli House on Sydney Harbour.
There is no equivalent residence in Melbourne or Brisbane.
This matter was discussed in the Political Round Up on Radio National Breakfast on 4 April.
Sally Sara was in the presenter’s chair and the panellists were the Australian National University’s Mark (“Please call me professor”) Kenny and The Conversation’s Michelle (“I’ll call you”) Grattan.
Let’s go to the transcript:
Sally Sara: It kind of stole a whole day of the campaign, what's your reflections on that Mark?
Mark Kenny: Yeah, look, I think this is probably a story that's been underdone, actually, by the media, because it's close to a sort of a basket of deplorables moment, really. We've got the guy that's actually saying that he's Mr. Suburbs, you know, Mr. Outer Suburbs, that he has a unique kind of empathy with, you know, people sort of scraping together their household budgets to make ends meet. The people who do long commutes and who are subject to all of these, these financial pressures. And then when it, and as Mel [Clarke] says, you know, he's been talking about work from home and these kinds of things for public servants and cutting costs. And then he talks about just, just, sort of tosses off that, "well, I'll actually live in Sydney".
What a load of absolute tosh.
Hillary Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” speech, delivered during the United States presidential election campaign on 9 September 2016, was directed at literally millions of Americans who were intending to vote for Donald Trump.
Ms Clinton expressed scorn at these voters – for whom she had considerable loathing.
Mr Dutton, on the other hand, was expressing interest in an interstate move. From outer Brisbane to Kirribilli in Sydney or Deakin in the Australian Capital Territory. Not quite the same as Hillary Clinton’s evident contempt for fellow Americans since Peter Dutton did not insult anyone.
Comrade Kenny – a one-time Labor Party staffer who has worked at the ABC and Fairfax Media (as it once was) – continued referring to Dutton’s “contempt for Canberra”:
…I mean, the contempt for Canberra. But also, I suppose, really, for anyone who's in the regions, and indeed, anyone who's in the far flung suburbs, just to say: "Well, I'm going to, I'm going to do it from there". And of course, there are costs associated with that. You know, he talks about getting people back into the office so they can have face to face contact. But you'd imagine that there'd be a fair bit of zoom discussion in a prime ministership if the Prime Minister's only ever in Canberra when Parliament sits.
Turn it up.
There is a prime ministerial office in the Sydney CBD which is suitable for secure communications.
5 | Former commando claims Peter Dutton backs inquiry into ABC |
02:22
Migration ‘not’ a priority for MP Dai Le and her community
06:20
The Coalition needs a ‘wakeup call’ in response to climate change answ...
03:35
Albanese slams Coalition for 'wasting' 10 years in government
02:14
‘Be open and honest’: Dutton takes aim at Albanese on negative gearing
11:33
Negative gearing 'not part of our policies': Richard Marles
07:00
Dai Le slams Labor over ‘inexperienced’ candidate pick for seat of Fowler
06:02
Jason Clare slams Dutton on ‘dodgy policies’ and ‘dodgy candidates’
In any event, a prime minister is always in Canberra when Parliament is sitting.
Also, the learned ANU professor seems unaware of the contemporary history of the official residences.
Bob Hawke was a Melbourne resident but, on becoming prime minister, he moved into The Lodge in Canberra and Kirribilli House in Sydney (especially on weekends). John Howard, Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison lived at Kirribilli House, and Paul Keating lived there on weekends.
Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald on 21 May 1996, the well-informed journalist Geoffrey Barker had this to say:
Harold Holt, John Gorton and Malcolm Fraser all used it [Kirribilli House] sparingly, leaving it available for VIPs, but Bob Hawke and Paul Keating took it over as a weekend house, enjoying the million-dollar harbour view….
It would seem that Professor Kenny – who does something or other at the Australian National University – needs to do some research before he sounds off about official residences.
In the meantime, Can You Bear It?
- SYDNEY MORNING HERALD COLUMNIST HELEN IRVING LOOKS BACK AT THE 19TH CENTURY TO ATTACK PETER DUTTON
While on the topic of Kirribilli House and all that, did anyone read the article by Helen Irving (Professor Emerita at Sydney Law School) in the Sydney Morning Herald on 8 April?
Headed “Kirribilli dreams defy history, constitution, democracy”.
Comrade Irving banged on about the history of Australia’s official residences all the way back to the 19th Century. Groan.
Assuming that the reader – or, perhaps readers, got past this (1898) “breaking news” – the learned professor continued:
Prime ministers who choose to live in Sydney (John Howard was the first to do so) disregard this history and its significance for Australia’s democracy. Their choice sends a message of Sydney dominance – the very thing NSW wanted in 1898 and the other colonies resisted – a message that Canberra, despite being the home of Australia’s great national and constitutional institutions, is not really the centre of the Commonwealth.
This overlooks the fact that Labor prime ministers Bob Hawke and Paul Keating used Kirribilli House as their personal home – before John Howard became prime minister.
Comrade Irving told SMH readers (if readers there were) that Peter Dutton hopes to receive “free rent in a grand house on Sydney’s lower north shore” and that this would be a manifestation of “privilege”.
Turn it up.
All prime ministers have had access to free rent.
5 | Peter Dutton hints at potential cuts to ABC and the NDIS |
02:22
Migration ‘not’ a priority for MP Dai Le and her community
06:20
The Coalition needs a ‘wakeup call’ in response to climate change answ...
03:35
Albanese slams Coalition for 'wasting' 10 years in government
02:14
‘Be open and honest’: Dutton takes aim at Albanese on negative gearing
11:33
Negative gearing 'not part of our policies': Richard Marles
07:00
Dai Le slams Labor over ‘inexperienced’ candidate pick for seat of Fowler
06:02
Jason Clare slams Dutton on ‘dodgy policies’ and ‘dodgy candidates’
Moreover, while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese based himself in Canberra – he spends a lot of time at Kirribilli House.
Could it be that only emerita and emeritus professors care about such matters?
And here’s another question.
Can You Bear It?
COMEDY REVIEW CORNER
- THE WEEK THAT NEVER ENDS WITH CHARLIE PICKERING
Last week there was enormous interest in MWD’s update on the state of ABC TV’s The Weekly with Charlie Pickering.
For those who missed it, the conclusion is that the allegedly comedic news show (now in its 11th season) is still struggling to come up with anything but the most tired of gags.
In order to further inform MWD readers, Ellie and her (male) co-owner decided to struggle through another episode of the show.
So, did the latest edition of the ABC’s longest-running Daily Show with Jon Stewart knockoff improve any from the previous outing?
Well, here is an example from a segment about two men being arrested for trying to bring a gun into an AFL game:
Charlie Pickering: Bringing guns to the footy. It might sound insane, but it is much cheaper than buying them at the game. Now this is an extremely serious situation and raises some extremely serious questions. Number one, did these men barrack for Collingwood or Carlton?
Much as it ever was then.
A low point of recent episodes has been a recurring segment called “Australia’s Next Top Ally” in which comedian and Triple J host Concetta Caristo purportedly investigates whether different countries would make a good replacement for the US as a close ally of Australia.
This involves her pestering a representative of a local community group with questions about the country.
Of course, since these questions are crafted by The Weekly’s writers, they consist of the most obvious and stereotypical questions imaginable.
Case in point the latest version in which Caristo sat down the leaders of a Victorian Mexican cultural group and made jokes about:
- Sombreros being big
- Tacos
- Chihuahuas being small
- Tacos (again)
Despite previously making a foray into commercial TV on Network Ten’s The Project and Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, Pickering, who got his start on Triple J, seems to be settling into a career as an ABC stalwart. With over a decade on The Weekly, plus various other gigs on ABC TV and Radio, Comrade Charlie is now safely entrenched in the ABC Soviet.
He’s likely only another decade or two at Aunty away from being conferred the coveted status of “National Treasure” by his fellow ABC lifers.
Then comes the final stage in the life cycle of an ABC comrade: retiring to sit on Twitter/X all day complaining about the Liberal Party and Rupert Murdoch.
YOUR TAXES AT WORK
SYDNEY WRITERS’ FESTIVAL DIRECTOR COMRADE ANN MOSSOP RECKONS THAT THE 2025 SWF’s LEFTIST STACK STARRING BARRIE CASSIDY HAS A DIVERSE PANEL
As avid Media Watch Dog readers know only too well, writers’ festivals and literary festivals are occasions when a soviet of leftists get hold of a large bag of taxpayers funds and invite their ideological sandalista scribbling friends to rock up to speak to audiences who will agree with them.
Gerard Henderson made a critique of the 2025 Sydney Writers’ Festival in MWD Issue 720 and, in a more general sense, in his Weekend Australian column on 22 March 2025.
In MWD, he focused on the session on Sunday 24 May and had this to say about “Barrie Cassidy and Comrades: State of the Nation” or something like that. Here we go:
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08:14
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08:34
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06:49
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08:37
Joe Biden roasted for reminiscing about 'coloured kids' during speech
Barrie Cassidy and Friends: State of the Nation – Sunday 24 May 2025
On this side of another election, where do we stand? Assess the state of Australian politics in this special post-election wrap-up edition of Barrie Cassidy’s panel discussion, featuring award-winning journalists Waleed Aly, George Megalogenis, Amy Remeikis and Niki Savva.
So, it’s the former ABC TV Insiders presenter and Labor Party operative Barrie Cassidy and his left-of-centre friends.
MWD is no prophet but expects that Barrie will essentially agree with Waleed who will essentially agree with George who will essentially agree with Amy who will essentially agree with Niki who will essentially agree with Barrie who will essentially agree with himself.
Or something like that.
It is notable that Comrades Cassidy, Megalogenis, Remeikis and Savva are all Peter Dutton antagonists.
As to their backgrounds, Cassidy is ex-ABC, Remeikis is with the leftist Australia Institute and Savva and Aly write for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. Enough said.
In their “Diary” column in The Australian on 9 April 2025, James Madden and James Manning wrote about the Barrie Cassidy and Friends SWF Soviet:
A smart bunch, one and all.
But you could be forgiven for thinking that the panel appears to be somewhat politically imbalanced. Because it is. We asked the SWF organisers if they approached some noted conservative voices to participate in the panel discussion.
SWF artistic director Ann Mossop explained that there are a few prerequisites for selection on the panel.
“In collaboration with Barrie, the festival curates a diverse panel representing a range of political perspectives. Panellists are selected for their independence of thought, depth of expertise, and distinctive viewpoints. Just as important, they must be able to engage audiences, challenge one another constructively, and offer insights that spark meaningful discussion. We always welcome suggestions for journalists and commentators who embody these qualities.”
Comrade Ann Mossop reckons that this group of Dutton antagonists is really “a diverse panel representing a range of political perspectives” which contains “distinctive viewpoints”.
What a load of absolute tosh.
Clearly Comrade Mossop is either delusional or in denial.
But the 2025 SWF director is correct about one point.
Comrade Cassidy’s literary politburo will appeal to the taxpayer subsidised SWF audience which – as part of the modern left – cannot handle viewpoint diversity and only wants to listen to speakers with whom they agree with in a leftist luvvie way.
Your Taxes At Work.
[Well done. It’s difficult to believe that Mossop can be so deluded. Perhaps this item should have been run in your hugely popular “Can You Bear It?” segment. Just a thought. – MWD Editor.]
AN ABC UPDATE
- ABC PROMOTION – SOFT ON ANTHONY ALBANESE; HARD ON DUTTON
There was a huge reaction to the segment in last week’s MWD which revealed that the internal ABC promotion for ABC TV’s (increasingly boring) Q+A program just happens to feature two of the Gucci Teals.
Namely, Dr (“Please, please remember to call me doctor”) Monique Ryan and ex-ABC staffer Zoe Daniel – the Teal MPs for the marginal Melbourne seats of Kooyong and Goldstein respectively.
What a coincidence – as the saying goes.
5 | Death toll rises after helicopter crashes in New York |
06:39
Gayle King humiliates herself by lashing out at critics after cringe 1...
03:14
Disney's Snow White remake faces another setback on torrid theatrical run
06:22
Gayle King ruthlessly mocked after criticising Blue Origin space fligh...
08:14
Democrat Senator denied meeting with alleged MS-13 member after flying...
08:34
Trump’s tariff ‘pain’ will be felt until next US election
06:49
Trump throws his support behind Douglas Murray after infamous clash wi...
08:37
Joe Biden roasted for reminiscing about 'coloured kids' during speech
Well, it’s happened again.
Here is the promotion currently showing on ABC TV advertising its coverage of the 2025 election:
Voiceover: Across the country, the ABC's sharpest political minds, will keep you informed every step of the way.
David Speers: From housing to health, energy to immigration.
Voiceover: We'll ask the tough questions you want answered.
David Speers: [Q to Anthony Albanese] What happens then, do prices go up?
Sarah Ferguson: [Q to Peter Dutton] How are you going to do that? Why can't you explain how you're going to do it?
Quelle Surprise!
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese received a soft question from ABC TV Insiders presenter David Speers.
However, Opposition leader Peter Dutton did not have a chance to be shown responding to ABC TV 7.30 presenter Sarah Ferguson’s hostile allegation that he cannot explain the Coalition’s election promises.
How about that?
- SALLY SARA’S DOUBLE STANDARDS ON DISPLAY
And then there is the matter of leading questions.
On ABC Radio National Breakfast on Thursday 10 April, presenter Sally Sara interviewed Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles followed by Coalition frontbencher Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.
Let’s go to the transcript of the last question directed at Mr Marles and the first question directed to Senator Price:
Sally Sara to Richard Marles: Minister, just finally on a separate issue. The Coalition has pledged to set up two new future funds and scrap Labor's funding vehicles for rewiring Australia, the Housing Australia Future Fund and the National Reconstruction Fund. Is that a good move…under half?”
Guess what?
Invited to state whether the Coalition’s policy was a “good” one – the Labor Party’s deputy leader said that it was not.
Whoever would have expected this?
Soon after, Comrade Sara’s first question was to Senator Price. Here we go:
Sally Sara to Jacinta Price: Firstly, on the issue of immigration. The Opposition leader said yesterday the Coalition would reduce net overseas migration by 100,000 people per year.
Business groups have said that could have a detrimental effect on industries and the economy.
Are those warnings a cause for concern?”
So, there you have it.
Comrade Sara’s first question to Senator Price demanded that she defend the Coalition’s own policy.
Richard Marles was not asked to defend any aspect of the Labor government.
That’s “balance” at the ABC Conservative Free Zone.
5 | Whoopi Goldberg blasted for claiming Trump does not represent what Americans want |
06:39
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03:14
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06:22
Gayle King ruthlessly mocked after criticising Blue Origin space fligh...
08:14
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08:34
Trump’s tariff ‘pain’ will be felt until next US election
06:49
Trump throws his support behind Douglas Murray after infamous clash wi...
08:37
Joe Biden roasted for reminiscing about 'coloured kids' during speech
- THE ABC’S MELISSA CLARKE MAINTAINS, WITHOUT EVIDENCE, THAT PETER DUTTON WAS “NERVOUS” DURING THE LEADERS DEBATE
As MWD readers know, the ABC RN Breakfast audiences are rapidly diminishing as the program becomes increasingly boring.
No wonder – ABC presenter Sally Sara interviews ABC journalists Melissa Clarke (on national politics) and Peter Martin (on business and economics) around five to six occasions each day.
Groan.
It would seem the powers-that-be at the taxpayer funded public broadcaster believe that RN Breakfast’s audiences (if audiences there are) are not smart enough to follow the program and have to have interviews and news reports explained to them by Comrades Clarke and Martin.
For the record, here’s what happened when Ms Sara asked Ms Clarke to comment on the first Leaders Debate which took place on Sky News last Tuesday:
Sally Sara: How did each leader handle the debate format itself, Mel?
Melissa Clarke: Yeah, you could see Anthony Albanese was well prepared and well-practised. He has done these sorts of debates before, having contested the last election successfully. And we know he's been doing a lot of debate prep. Peter Dutton, too. He looked nervous at times, but he was able to make the most of opportunities when they arose. He was able to pivot quickly...
This is a purely subjective opinion which is not supported by evidence.
To Comrade Clarke, Peter Dutton looked nervous.
To other commentators, he looked confident.
But, as befits a Conservative Free Zone, no other view was heard on RN Breakfast on this matter.
Senior judges in the High Court of Australia have stated that assessments of demeanour are purely subjective and cannot be trusted. However, Melissa Clarke seems to know better.
Media Watch Dog is of the view that both the Prime Minister and Opposition leader did well and neither made a significant mistake.
Moreover, both looked confident.
Sure, that’s a subjective judgment.
But at least it’s a measured one.
5 | ‘No one can save themselves’: Megyn Kelly discusses the backflip on Joe Biden’s health |
05:16
Peter Dutton in a ‘world of trouble’ unless he can take ‘momentum’
05:34
Election race still ‘very tight’ for Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese
02:45
Anthony Albanese's 'confidence shaken' following ABC debate
08:19
Negative gearing ‘back on the table’ for the Labor Party
06:06
Australians face ‘fork in the road’ in upcoming federal election
02:49
The Albanese government's 'weakest spot' is power prices
09:53
‘Generational failure’: Children should be told it’s ‘good’ to be a tr...
FIVE PAWS AWARD
Media Watch Dog’s Five Paws Award was inaugurated in Issue Number 26 (4 September 2009) during the time of Nancy (2004-2017). The first winner was ABC TV presenter Emma Alberici.
Ms Alberici scored for remembering the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 23 August 1939 whereby Hitler and Stalin divided Eastern Europe between Germany and the Soviet Union.
And for stating that the Nazi-Soviet Pact had effectively started the Second World War, since it was immediately followed by Germany’s invasion of Poland (at a time when the Soviet Union had become an ally of Germany).
Over the years, the late Nancy’s Five Paws Award has become one of the world’s most prestigious gongs – rating just below the Nobel Prize and the Academy Awards.
STEP FORWARD VIKKI CAMPION
On Friday 11 April, The Daily Telegraph featured an article by Vikki Campion titled “Simon Holmes à Court’s rise from billionaire’s son to mass political influencer behind Climate 200” – tracing the legacy of Robert Holmes à Court and the political rise of his son, Climate 200 founder (and MWD fave) Simon Holmes à Court.
Campion details the source of the Holmes à Court family’s fortune – fossil fuels.
Robert Holmes à Court…began with a law practice “that gave fast service to mine operators” and worked his way to the rich list buying 1500 shares in a coal mining company. It became Bell Group, which included “a portfolio of investments in minerals and petroleum”, reported in an interview in Forbes as growing 16-fold to $767 million in a mere 18 months.
Campion also makes a case for Holmes à Court attending Nancy’s Courtesy Classes:
The Climate 200 fundraiser, who soared to mass influence following the 2022 election, relishes strangers who agree with him and is quick to pile on the pejorative when they don’t. Those who believe in hydrocarbons for affordable power are “delusional” or “trolls”. Nuclear advocates are “living in fantasy”. Those trying to tell him our side of the story are a “liar” or “corrupt”. Those who do not believe 100 per cent renewables in Australia will work are “gadflies”, “geese” and “cockroaches”.
Amidst the soft media coverage of the Climate 200-funded Teals – particularly by the ABC and Nine Newspapers – it is a good reminder that without fossil fuels, there would be no Holmes à Court dynasty, and certainly no Climate 200.
Vikki Campion – Five Paws.
5 | Biden’s inner circle now ‘running like rats’ to the media to expose Biden’s mental decline |
05:16
Peter Dutton in a ‘world of trouble’ unless he can take ‘momentum’
05:34
Election race still ‘very tight’ for Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese
02:45
Anthony Albanese's 'confidence shaken' following ABC debate
08:19
Negative gearing ‘back on the table’ for the Labor Party
06:06
Australians face ‘fork in the road’ in upcoming federal election
02:49
The Albanese government's 'weakest spot' is power prices
09:53
‘Generational failure’: Children should be told it’s ‘good’ to be a tr...
MEDIA FOOL OF THE WEEK
CHANNEL 7’S TIM LESTER MAKES A SUCCESSFUL PITCH
Lotsa thanks to the secretive “Ms Jill” – whoever she may be – for drawing MWD’s attention to the foibles of journalists over the years.
Most recently by means of a post on X (formerly Twitter) on 9 April.
Your sheila Jill was the first to draw the attention of Ellie’s (male) co-owner to this crass question from Channel 7 journalist Tim Lester to Opposition leader Peter Dutton at a media conference on 9 April.
Shortly after it was known that Mr Dutton’s father – Bruce Dutton – had suffered a heart-attack the night before.
Tim Lester: Campaigns are pressure events for candidates like yourself, but they're pressure events for families of candidates too. Do you worry your dad is not being helped and might even have been harmed by the fact that he's worried about you?
Sure, Peter Dutton immediately responded – with humour – that his father has worried about him for 50 years.
But the suggestion that the son is somehow the cause of his father’s ill-health is, well, just foolish.
[Perhaps your man Lester should attend the Courtesy Classes conducted by the late Nancy (2004-2017) with a little help from the American psychic John Edward. Just a thought. – MWD Editor.]
Tim Lester: Media Fool of the Week.
NEW SERIES: NINE NEWSPAPERS – AN UPDATE
- TONY WRIGHT AND THE LATE PETRO GEORGIOU (1947-2025)
Petro Georgio died on 4 April 2025. Media Watch Dog extends sympathy to his family and friends.
Gerard Henderson had a professional relationship with Petro Georgiou.
They first met at Melbourne University in the second half of the 1960s when, as Henderson recalls, Georgiou was a member of the far-left Labor Club at the time.
Within a decade he was on the staff of the Liberal Party Opposition leader Malcolm Fraser.
5 | Albanese government has created 'a real mess': Peter Dutton |
02:22
Migration ‘not’ a priority for MP Dai Le and her community
06:20
The Coalition needs a ‘wakeup call’ in response to climate change answ...
03:35
Albanese slams Coalition for 'wasting' 10 years in government
02:14
‘Be open and honest’: Dutton takes aim at Albanese on negative gearing
11:33
Negative gearing 'not part of our policies': Richard Marles
07:00
Dai Le slams Labor over ‘inexperienced’ candidate pick for seat of Fowler
06:02
Jason Clare slams Dutton on ‘dodgy policies’ and ‘dodgy candidates’
As readers know, Fraser became prime minister on 11 November 1975 following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government by the Governor-General. Petro Georgiou addressed The Sydney Institute in March 1991.
Journalist Tony Wright wrote an obituary on 5 April titled “The ‘conscience of the Liberal Party’ dies aged 77”. It commenced as follows:
Petro Georgiou, among the last of the tough-minded small “l” Liberals and a man known among many as the “conscience of the Liberal Party”, has died aged 77.
He spent his parliamentary career, from 1994 to 2010, sitting on the backbench, becoming famous for standing up to Liberal prime minister John Howard on human rights.
He refused an early offer to join Howard’s frontbench, making it clear he put a higher value on exercising his freedom to oppose the party’s hardline policies, particularly towards asylum seekers.
Tony Wright’s comment in this instance is simply incorrect.
John Howard explained the situation in his book Lazarus Rising: A Personal and Political Autobiography (HarperCollins 2010). Here is what Australia’s second longest-serving prime minister had to say at Page 79:
In 1997 as Prime Minister, when doing a reshuffle, I offered Petro Georgiou, the MP for Kooyong, a position as a parliamentary secretary. He knocked it back, implying that it was beneath his dignity, saying “I’m too old and ugly to be a parliamentary secretary”.
This was several years before refugee and asylum seeker issues were under debate, so Petro did not reject the job on policy principle.
Whatever his motives, it was a foolish response. I never offered him another job. Brendan Nelson, Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott all started off as parliamentary secretaries; each was made a cabinet minister by me. All of them would ultimately lead the party.
Who did Petro imagine he was?
In other words, in 1997 Petro Georgiou had only been in the Parliament for three years.
Yet he was of the view that a parliamentary secretary position was beneath him (the current position is termed assistant minister). Georgiou wanted to be promoted to the full ministry at least, perhaps the cabinet.
That he chose to decline John Howard’s offer is not the former prime minister’s fault and had nothing to do with the Howard government’s policy with respect to asylum seekers.
Georgiou stayed in Kooyong before retiring from politics in 2010, having defeated Josh Frydenberg in a pre-selection challenge in 2007.
Media Watch Dog is of the view that readers interested in Australian politics would like to know why Petro Georgiou – for all his talents – never made it to the front bench in government.
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- TOM KENEALLY AND THE LATE CARDINAL GEORGE PELL (1941-2023)
Nine Newspapers, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, led the media pile-on against George Pell – along with the ABC.
This is documented in Gerard Henderson’s Cardinal Pell, The Media Pile-on & Collective Guilt (Connor Court new edition 2024).
This book – along with Frank Brennan’s Observations on The Pell Proceedings (Connor Court second edition, 2021) has been “cancelled” by Nine Newspapers and the ABC.
On 5 April, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald published yet another hatchet job on the late Cardinal Pell.
Written by novelist and Pell antagonist Tom Keneally, it was titled “St George Pell? Now there’s a miracle”.
In his article, Keneally demonstrated an abysmal ignorance of the law along with a capacity to believe what he wants to believe.
Today’s Correspondence segment publishes an email which Gerard Henderson sent to Tom Keneally on 8 April. So far, Mr Keneally has not responded.
If he does, any response will be published in MWD.
Note that the only Letter to the Editor published in the SMH concerning his article was of the sneering kind.
Here it is – all six words of it – under the heading “Saints preserve us”:
Thank you, Thomas Keneally, well said. (“St George Pell? Now that would be a miracle”, April 5).
Arthur Henessy, Gymea Bay
Er, that was all.
Really.
HISTORY CORNER
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ROBERT MANNE RESPONDS TO “HOWLERS” IN HIS A POLITICAL MEMOIR
As Media Watch Dog readers know, Gerard Henderson – when critiquing or reviewing the history of politics – does not focus on minor errors.
Such as a typo (of the written or verbal kind) or misspellings of names – since everyone makes them.
On occasions, he does privately advise authors/journalists of such errors.
However, serious errors – that is howlers – are different.
In last week’s issue of MWD, attention was drawn to some serious errors in Robert Manne’s recently released A Political Memoir: Intellectual Combat in the Cold War and the Culture Wars (La Trobe University Press).
Henderson described Manne as a good historian but wrote that the howlers in his book should be corrected.
By the way, Henderson reviewed Manne’s book in the current issue of The Sydney Institute Review Online – see here.
It seems that your man Manne has taken affront to the criticism and thrown the switch to denial.
You be the judge.
These are the previous errors identified in MWD along with Robert Manne’s response:
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- Gough Whitlam and Vietnamese Refugees
At Pages 141-142 Manne writes:
According to Clyde Cameron, one of the government’s left-wing Cabinet ministers, Whitlam described the Vietnamese refugees to him as “yellow Balts”- that is to say, conservative anti-communists who would never support Labor.
Henderson documented that Gough Whitlam never referred to “yellow Balts” – that would be a racial slur.
Instead, Whitlam referred to “f—king Vietnamese Balts”. Shocking to be sure – but without a racial connotation.
This is Robert Manne’s reply:
I was wrong about Whitlam calling Vietnamese refugees “yellow” Balts.
As Henderson recalls he merely called them “f--king Vietnamese Balts”. Clyde Cameron’s volume lies in one of many boxes of books in a garden shed, alas.
Gerard Henderson responds:
This is just lazy.
There are libraries which contain Clyde Cameron’s 1980 book China, Communism and Coca-Cola.
Moreover, googling “Whitlam Balts” would have provided the accurate quote.
This is a serious error and should be corrected in the online edition.
- Isi Leibler as an Alleged Mossad Agent
At Page 212 Manne writes:
As Lone Voice, Suzanne Rutland’s recent highly sympathetic biography of Isi Leibler, reveals, however, while he was the most prominent leader of the Jewish community in Australia, Leibler had indeed worked for Israeli intelligence since 1959, following a “transformative meeting” with “the legendary Israeli spymaster” Shaul Avigur. According to Rutland, for decades Leibler “acted unofficially under instructions from Avigur and Levanon [another senior member of Israeli intelligence], becoming a de facto operative for Israel on foreign affairs [my emphasis] …
Suzanne Rutland, Isi Leibler’s biographer who knows much more about Israel than Manne, wrote that Manne confused two organisations – and that Leibler worked with an organisation which was not connected with the Israel Intelligence Agency. Manne has not addressed Rutland’s claim that he confused two Israeli organisations.
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This is Manne’s response:
I did not claim that Isi Leibler worked for Mossad.
I did claim, by quoting Suzanne Rutland, that while the dominant figure in the politics of Australian Jewry, Isi Leibler worked in strictest secrecy for an intelligence office established by the genuinely legendary Israeli intelligence officer, Shaul Avigur.
Gerard Henderson responds:
The Manne decision to link Isi Leibler with Shaul Avigur – the founder of Mossad – is subject to the implication that Leibler worked for Mossad. He didn’t. Leibler worked with the Israeli foreign affairs department – along with many others in Australia and elsewhere – to get the Soviet Union to release Soviet Jews for settlement in Israel.
- The 1967 Referendum & Aboriginals
At Page 299 Manne refers to “the thirtieth anniversary of the 1967 referendum, which had finalised the passage to full Indigenous citizenship”.
In fact, all Aboriginals had full citizenship by 1948 following the passing of the Nationality and Citizenship Act. Consequently, citizenship was not on the 1967 referendum ballot.
Robert Manne’s response:
When I wrote that the 1967 referendum completed the “citizenship” for the Indigenous peoples of Australia, what I meant was that when 90 per cent of Australians agreed in the referendum to transfer responsibility for Aboriginal matters from the (sometimes reactionary) states to the Commonwealth, and to count indigenous Australians when setting the House of Representative constituencies, full citizenship was finally established.
If full citizenship for indigenous Australians was established before 1967 why does Henderson think Aboriginal activists struggled for these constitutional changes for several years and were jubilant when the referendum succeeded with overwhelming popular support?
Here the reader is expected to accept not what Manne wrote but what he “meant”.
It’s just denial.
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The 1948 Nationality and Citizenship Act brought about a situation that all Australian-born people were citizens of Australia.
The 1967 referendum deleted from the Constitution certain parts which discriminated against Aboriginal Australians – despite the fact that they were Australian citizens.
Section 127 of the Constitution, for example.
And it gave the Commonwealth Government the power to make laws with respect to Indigenous Australians.
MWD is of the view that someone like Robert Manne, who has written and spoken so much about Aboriginal affairs, should be aware as to when all Indigenous Australians obtained full citizenship.
The fact is that some 90 per cent of Australians voted “Yes” to remove restrictions on Aboriginal Australians in the Constitution. That’s why Aboriginal Australians (who were already citizens) celebrated in 1967. But the 1967 referendum had nothing to do with citizenship. Here is the question that was put concerning proposed laws for the alteration of the Constitution:
Question 2
Do you approve the proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution entitled –
“An Act to alter the Constitution so as to omit certain words relating to the people of the Aboriginal Race in any State so that Aboriginals are to be counted in reckoning the population”?
- Polly Farmer and the “Stolen Generations”
At Page 329, Manne writes:
The greatest moment of the Rudd government was, by general consensus, the prime minister’s 2008 apology to the Stolen Generations…. I learned at this time that perhaps the greatest ever ruckman in the history of my beloved Geelong Football Club, which I had followed with undiminished passion since the age of four, Graham “Polly” Farmer, had been brought up at “Sister Kate’s”.
That might have helped explain something I had noticed, how his eyes often seemed to be looking into the middle distance, almost blank.
Gerard Henderson interpreted Robert Manne as meaning what he wrote.
Apparently not.
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Robert Manne’s response:
I did not claim that Polly Farmer was a “stolen child”.
I did claim that he was brought up without his mother in the principally “quarter-caste” children’s home in Perth, commonly known as “Sister Kate’s”.
I loved Farmer. I also noticed something strange about his dead-looking stare.
As Henderson might know, Polly Farmer’s life after football was troubled.
Gerard Henderson’s Response:
The clear implication in this section of Robert Manne’s book is that Graham Farmer was part of what he termed the stolen generation.
It was contained in a paragraph which described how “lighter skinned [Aboriginal] children” were transferred by Western Australian government authorities “to the Perth ‘quadroon’ home of Sister Kate Clutterbuck, known as ‘Sister Kate’s’”.
Gerard Henderson pointed out – quoting sources – that Graham Farmer was voluntarily placed into Sister Kate’s by his Aboriginal mother.
And that Farmer himself told his biographer Stephen Hawke that he accepted Sister Kate’s as his home and regarded himself as fortunate to have been there.
As to Polly Farmer’s (alleged) “blank” eyes – this is Robert Manne’s interpretation of Farmer’s demeanour. This is not the role of an historian.
CORRESPONDENCE
This overwhelmingly popular segment of Media Watch Dog usually works like this.
Someone or other thinks it would be a you-beaut idea to write to Gerard Henderson AC (Always Courteous) about something or other.
And Hendo, being a courteous and well-brought-up kind of guy, replies.
Then, hey presto, the correspondence is published in MWD – much to the delight of its avid readers.
There are occasions, however, when (the late) Jackie’s (male) co-owner decides to write a polite note to someone or other – who, in turn, believes that a reply is in order.
Publication in MWD invariably follows.
There are, alas, some occasions where your man Henderson sends a polite missive – but does not receive the courtesy of a reply.
Nevertheless, publication of this one-sided correspondence still takes place.
For the record – and in the public interest, of course.
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GERARD HENDERSON AND TOM KENEALLY ON THE LATE GEORGE PELL
The successful Australian writer Tom Keneally is, among other things, a fierce antagonist of the late Cardinal George Pell.
He criticised Pell when he was alive and has continued to do so after his death.
Indeed, now that Pell is no longer around, the intensity of Keneally’s attacks has increased.
On Saturday 5 April 2025, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald published Tom Keneally’s article titled “St George Pell? – Now that would be a miracle”. Gerard Henderson emailed Tom Keneally on this issue. So far there has been no reply. If there is – MWD will let readers know.
Gerard Henderson to Tom Keneally – 8 April 2025
Good morning Tom
Long time no see.
By the way, if you write a biography let me know – it would work for a talk at The Sydney Institute.
I refer to your article in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on Saturday 5 April 2025 titled “St George Pell? Now that’s a miracle”.
I know that you are not responsible for the sneering headline – but your article was unprofessional.
By the way, I have no interest in arguing the case for or against miracles. My focus is entirely on the natural – not the supernatural.
You are a highly talented novelist with an understanding of theology.
However, you seem to be hopelessly out of your depth when it comes to matters of law.
You used the near death of 15-month old boy Vincent as an opportunity to attack Pell, your nemesis of long standing – which goes back to the previous century.
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Since you do not believe in miracles, what’s the meaning of your statement that you found the little boy’s survival “hard…to take seriously the claim that it was thanks to Pell’s intersession”?
You would not take miracles seriously even if Pell was never born.
You continued:
That is because I had recently read an article by Louise Milligan in The Monthly, which nominated a number of Pell’s alleged victims of abuse. Despite Pell’s ultimate acquittal in the case of two alleged victims, I found Milligan’s account compelling. That article would later be removed from copies of the magazine for legal reasons.
In 2018, Pell had been convicted of the oral rape of one 13-year-old choirboy and the molestation of another.
However, in 2020, a full bench of the High Court upheld Pell’s appeal and acquitted him, finding “a significant possibility that an innocent person has been convicted because the evidence did not establish guilt”.
In January this year, two men abused by Pell in the 1970s were granted compensation by the federal government’s National Redress Scheme, despite Pell’s acquittal in the separate case.
First, some history.
Victoria Police laid 26 charges of child sexual abuse against Pell.
All were ruled out at the Magistrates’ Court, or dropped by Victoria Police or effectively dismissed in the Victorian County Court, or discontinued by the Victorian Director of Public Prosecutions or dismissed in a single judgment by all seven judges in the High Court of Australia.
The composition of the High Court in April 2020 consisted of judges appointed by Coalition or Labor governments alike, most of whom did not have a Catholic upbringing.
Your article contains an imputation that you know more about criminal law than seven High Court judges.
But you have not come up with any analysis of why all seven judges (allegedly) got it wrong.
Nor has Milligan – who has never stated how the alleged crimes could have happened immediately after a Solemn High mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral.
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You seem to be totally ignorant of the Commonwealth Government’s National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse.
As I understand it, complaints are made online seeking financial compensation under the scheme of up to $150,000.
The complaint is evaluated by an anonymous decision maker who may or may not have legal qualifications.
The standard of proof is certainly not “beyond reasonable doubt” or even “on the balance of probabilities”.
It is much lower than both – namely “reasonable likelihood”.
If there is a “reasonable likelihood” that a person committed an act – it stands to reason that there must be a reasonable likelihood that the act in question did not happen.
Whatever the rights or wrongs of such a scheme, it is intellectually dishonest for you to link the Redress Scheme’s decision with “Pell’s acquittal in a separate case”. The High Court is a court of law; the Redress Scheme is a bureaucratic entity which is not open to the public.
In your article, you refer to Pell’s “alleged victims”.
This is an ill-informed comment.
Pell has no “victims” – but he has some complainants. There is a significant difference.
You also make this claim, in your attempt to suggest that Pell was really guilty of the charges against him, when you write:
In the law, witnesses are taken on their own terms except in this area of child abuse, when they become ex officio liars wanting to torment a candidate for sanctity – unjustly imprisoned and ultimately released…. A modern evil called “wokeness” invalidates every victim and explains why they come forward with accusations against Pell?
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This hyperbolic comment is hopelessly wrong.
Nine newspapers’ The Age and Sydney Morning Herald boast that they are “Independent. Always.”
But they are prepared to run your absolute tosh in this instance.
What considered person ever said that Pell’s complainants were “ex-officio liars”? – you even put the word “ex-officio” in italics for reasons that are not clear.
It is a strong charge that you have made in Nine’s newspapers – so why not name some names?
Certainly, Pell never said this about this complainant “J” (who was referred to as “A” in the High Court and the Victorian Court of Appeal).
A complainant does not have to be a “liar” to make errors in his/her recollections of events of many decades ago.
Some people have “recollections” of events that never happened.
Some have poor memories. Some are delusional. Some are into mistaken identity.
And some (but not many) do lie – for instance Carl Beech in England where he falsely accused high profile men of rape and was sentenced to a term of imprisonment.
You quote Pell antagonist Louise Milligan on a couple of occasions.
If you have read her book Witness (Hachette, 2020), you would be aware that she does not accept the decision of the High Court of Australia in George Pell v The Queen.
Like Ms Milligan, I have a law degree from the University of Melbourne – neither of us has practised law.
On 14 January 2023, Milligan wrote an article in The Saturday Paper titled “The child abuse cases for which George Pell was never tried”. This article was subjected to a withering critique by the Melbourne Law School’s Professor Jeremy Gans in a Twitter (now X) thread on 14 January 2023.
Professor Gans commented: “It is a recurrent problem with Milligan’s journalism. If there are facts that don’t help her argument, she doesn’t tell her readers. She just leaves them out.” He added: “Milligan is a gifted writer; but I don’t think she’s a good court reporter.”
If I were to receive such a criticism from the likes of Professor Gans, I would desist from legal commentary.
But Milligan continues to defame the deceased George Pell.
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In her article, in the February 2025 of The Monthly, which is headed “The true Legacy of the Rapist George Pell”, Milligan accused the deceased cardinal of two crimes of rape.
This is based on what she has been told of the finding by an anonymous bureaucrat working full-time or part-time in the Redress Scheme.
You present as an “ex-seminarian…sincerely and not opportunistically confronting” what you “believe to be Pell’s sins”.
But you offer no evidence in support of your allegations.
The Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse did make findings with respect to Pell but they were not supported by independent witness or documentary evidence.
In your Foreword to Louise Milligan’s Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of George Pell. written before he was found not guilty by the High Court, you referred to Cardinal Pell’s “calamitous ending” – a bit of wish-fulfillment gone wrong.
You used the occasion of a book by an author who is a Pell antagonist to criticise the Cardinal’s views on climate change and asylum seekers – which had nothing to do with the topic, but demonstrated your hostility to Pell.
You even referred to Pell in the context of “the victims of Churchmen” – as if Pell was somehow responsible for the crimes of others.
The fact is that Archbishop Pell (as he then was) set up the Melbourne Response in 1996 to handle complaints of child sexual assault in Catholic institutions in the Archdiocese of Melbourne.
The Victorian government’s Education Department set up a procedure to deal with pedophilia in Victoria’s government schools in 2023 – a quarter of a century after Cardinal Pell set up the Melbourne Response.
No such body has been established in New South Wales.
Perhaps you might devote some of your literary skills to this matter.
Best wishes
Gerard
Gerard Henderson
* * * * *
Until Next Time.
* * * * *