Prime Minister Tony Abbott has launched a blistering attack on the ABC's Q&A program, asking "whose side are you on?" after an Australian man convicted of threatening Commonwealth officials appeared on the program.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In comments that reignited the debate within the Coalition government about the role and responsibilities of the national broadcaster, Mr Abbott accused the ABC of effectively giving "a platform to a convicted criminal and terrorist sympathiser - they have given this individual, this disgraceful individual, a platform and in so doing, I believe the national broadcaster has badly let us down".
The Prime Minister's comments followed remarks he made to the Coalition joint party room earlier on Tuesday, in which he described Q&A as "a lefty lynch mob".
"I think many, many millions of Australians would feel betrayed by our national broadcaster right now, and I think that the ABC does have to have a long, hard look at itself, and to answer a question which I have posed before - whose side are you on? Whose side are you on here?" Mr Abbott said on Tuesday.
"We all believe in free speech, but in the end we have to make judgments and I think that the ABC made a very, very serious misjudgment last night."
In January 2014, Mr Abbott berated the ABC for taking "everyone's side but Australia's".
The on-air confrontation has drawn strong criticism from Coalition MPs.
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Tuesday the ABC had made a "grave error of judgment" and revealed an external review of the program was already under way.
The ABC has previously conducted external reviews of its 2014 budget coverage, its coverage of asylum seekers, and of the 2013 election.
Mr Turnbull said he had contacted the ABC's chief executive Mark Scott, host Tony Jones and chairman Jim Spigelman about the incident.
"To have a person of that background in a live audience is a very great error of judgment," he told Sky News.
Mr Turnbull said he understood that Mr Mallah had nominated a question ahead of time and "there was clearly an awareness on the part of Q&A of who he was, what his background was and that should have raised issues both about the propriety of having him in a live audience, both from the point of view of what he might say but also in terms of physical security".
"I am concerned there has been inadequate attention to issues of physical security in assembling these studio audiences for Q&A."
On Tuesday, the ABC's director of television Richard Finlayson issued a statement acknowledging allowing Mr Mallah to join the audience and ask a question was an "error of judgment" but pointed out the inherent risks involved with live television.
"The environment of a live television broadcast, however, meant it would not be possible for editorial review of the comments he might make prior to broadcast, particularly if he engaged in debate beyond his prepared question," he said.
"[Host] Tony Jones correctly and immediately ruled a statement made by Mr Mallah as out of order."
Mr Abbott last year applauded Emma Alberici, host of the ABC's Lateline, after her fiery exchange with a guest from radical Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir. "She's a feisty interviewer ... good on her for having a go and I think she spoke for our country last night," he said.
