A popular ABC program has aired an obscene and graphic slur against Gina Rinehart, with a contestant on the Race Around The World show imagining a “fantasy world” in which the mining billionaire would be violently assaulted in an end-of-world scenario.
In the segment, which went to air on Sunday, contestant Kate McGuinness discusses an imaginary doomsday, and inexplicably fantasises about inflicting torture upon Mrs Rinehart.
“Because when the revolution comes, will you hide under your bed or will you know exactly how to shove a stick right up Gina Rinehart’s butthole, stirring it round, mixing her guts up nice and smooth, making her into one big sausage roll, to make something outta nothing.”
When the segment aired, the panel of four “judges” appeared to laugh along with the clip. Just one member of the panel, ABC journalist Leigh Sales, took issue with the content.
Sales put it to McGuinness that she had compromised an otherwise interesting video with a “nasty gag about Gina Rinehart”.
“So what you’re saying is, ‘we’re all in this together unless you don’t agree with my politics,” Sales said to McGuinness.
McGuinees replied: “Unless you’re Gina Rinehart.”
In a statement to The Australian, an ABC spokesperson acknowledged that all content on the ABC was bound by the organisation’s editorial guidelines, but said the video targeting Mrs Rinehart was “satirical in tone”.
“Race Around the World features films created by amateur filmmakers, whose contributions reflect their own viewpoints and creative treatments,” the spokesperson said.
“While contributors are not ABC journalists, all content broadcast by the ABC is subject to the ABC’s editorial standards, policies, and review processes. In this case, the film was intended to be satirical in tone and considered to be editorially justifiable within the context of the program.
“We recognise that audiences may respond differently to creative content and hold a range of views about how it is presented. One of the judges critiqued the film during their assessment, and that feedback was included in the program.”
The offensive skit follows public declarations by both ABC chairman Kim Williams, and the broadcaster’s managing director Hugh Marks, that there is no inherent political bias within the ABC.
Earlier this month, Mr Williams told Sky News Australia: “The ABC is a national resource. It is a force for impartiality and for objective journalism.”
The Australian has sought comment from Mrs Rinehart.
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