#auspol The new McCarthyism is here led by Abbott and his cheerleaders like @australian @chriskkenny and fellow enemies of democracy.
— Greg Barns (@BarnsGreg) June 24, 2015
The Abbott government’s political interference into public broadcasting has just got serious.
Very serious.
Not content with going beyond his ministerial brief and ringing Mark Scott in the middle of the night to demand answers, the Duke of Double Bay has now decided to politicise his department by demanding senior officers conduct an inquiry into the ABC’s editorial decision-making.
The ego of this merchant wanker seemingly knows no bounds.
Everybody who ever watched Play School or an ABC news bulletin should be outraged and demanding Malcolm Turnbully resign his commission.
Turnbull has breached his ministerial guidelines with this move, but he’s gloating about it.
The jumped-up, smug little Napoleon has gone well beyond what is acceptable in a system that relies on the separation of powers.
Turnbull’s inquiry is blatant political interference.
How else can you explain his “instruction” to his department — which we can presume knows little to nothing of news judgment and editorial decision-making.
And the reason he thinks he can get away with it is that he did the last time.