The communications minister, Mitch Fifield, has asked the ABC to investigate a TV comedy segment in which a candidate for Cory Bernardi’s Australian Conservatives party was lampooned in a skit about the name of the electorate of Batman.
Tonightly with Tom Ballard highlighted the racist past of the grazier John Batman, who the seat is named after, suggesting the electorate change its name to “Batman was a cunt”.
The comedians mocked up an election poster of the Australian Conservatives party candidate Kevin Bailey which said “Kevin Bailey is a cunt”.
“Candidates for elected office expect to be criticised and parodied,” Fifield said.
“But this ABC segment clearly crossed a line, particularly given that it was directed towards an individual who has served his nation in uniform.
“Vitriolic abuse of this kind has no place on the national broadcaster and I will be asking the ABC to investigate. The ABC should also immediately offer an unreserved apology to Mr Bailey.”
The poster of Bailey was a step further than the way the Labor and Greens candidates were treated as their posters said “Batman was a cunt”.
“This was an issue because there is no ‘Batman’ anywhere on [the Bailey] poster, so I’ve had to put ‘Kevin Bailey is a cunt’,” comedian Greg Larsen said.
“I tried to get an interview with Kevin Bailey, I was like, ‘Hey man, let’s have an interview, we’ll do a funny package about the election.’ I wasn’t even going to make fun of you, I was going to make fun of the Greens, but then you refused the interview so this is what happens.”
The ABC hasn’t faced this much anger over a comedy sketch since The Chaser program depicted the Australian’s associate editor Chris Kenny having sex with a dog in a joke about ABC critics.
An ABC internal review cleared the sketch but Kenny sued for defamation and won $35,000.
Bernardi joined Fifield in complaining to the ABC, lodging an official complaint with Michelle Guthrie.
“Mr Bailey is an upstanding member of society, a former SAS soldier, a diplomat, a successful businessman and a noted philanthropist,” he said in a statement.
“It is astonishing that any political candidate would be subjected to such vitriol from any broadcaster, let alone one entrusted, by law, with demonstrating fairness and impartiality.
“This attack goes far beyond satire, is completely unacceptable and warrants not only an apology from Mr Ballard and Mr Larsen but also from the ABC for allowing it to go to air.
“Vitriolic abuse of this kind has no place on the national broadcaster and I will be asking the ABC to investigate. The ABC should also immediately offer an unreserved apology to Mr Bailey.”
Both Bernardi and Coalition frontbencher Simon Birmingham called for someone at the ABC to lose their job.
“I think someone needs to lose their job over it, because it’s not like these things go to air without being pre-screened,” Bernardi told ABC Radio Adelaide.
An ABC spokesman told Guardian Australia: “The ABC will respond to the minister and Senator Bernardi in due course.”
#theirABC is officially out of control. Offensive, unfunny, viscerally green left and, against its charter, rejects pluralism in favour of a “progressive” monoculture.
— Chris Kenny (@chriskkenny) March 20, 2018
The ABC has been criticised by Labor for appearing to capitulate to calls from the Coalition to censor Emma Alberici’s coverage of tax policy. Guthrie is due to appear before Senate estimates for further questioning on the issue next month.