TEMPO.CO, Sydney - Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott launched a sharp critic on Australian broadcasting station ABC on Wednesday, January 29, 2014. Abbott accused the station of taking "everyone's side but Australia's" in coverage of asylum-seekers and the Edward Snowden leaks.
"It dismays Australians when the national broadcaster appears to take everyone's side but Australia's and I think it is a problem," Abbott told commercial radio station 2GB.
The Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) had agitated the Australian government a few times before. Late last year, ABC, together with Guardian Australia, ran allegations based on the documents leaked by Snowden that Australia had spied on Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2009.
The report had caused diplomatic tension between the two countries at the time.
"ABC seemed to delight in broadcasting allegations by a traitor, this gentleman Snowden," Abbott said.
ABC chief Mark Scott argued that the station's decision to reveal Australia's tapping of Yudhoyono's phone is in accordance with public interest. The broadcaster had no immediate comment on Abbott's latest broadside.
Recently, ABC broadcasted reports on asylum-seekers that stated that the Australian Navy had tortured the asylum-seekers at sea. Abbott said that ABC does not have enough proof to support these allegations.
CNA | RAJU FEBRIAN