Calls for a formal investigation into the ABC have escalated after the national broadcaster aired a satirical Australia Day special that critics say attacked national institutions and crossed editorial and classification boundaries.
The 30-minute program Always Was Tonight, hosted by former AFL player Tony Armstrong, premiered this week ahead of January 26.
It immediately drew condemnation from Coalition figures, who have urged both the ABC and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to investigate how the program was approved.
Federal opposition communications spokeswoman Melissa McIntosh labelled the broadcast an ‘all-time low’ for the public broadcaster and said its timing was ‘abominable’, coming weeks after the Bondi attack.
‘Our nation was rocked by the horrors at Bondi,’ she said.
‘Now our national broadcaster is further fuelling division in our communities with this rubbish.’
Opposition calls for an investigation after the ABC airs a controversial Australia Day satire hosted by former AFL star Tony Armstrong
Critics have accused the national broadcaster of crossing editorial boundaries with the comedy special targeting January 26 celebrations
The ABC defended its Australia Day special as creative and insightful amid growing calls for a formal probe
The ABC has rejected claims the program was designed to divide audiences, defending the show as satire that aimed to highlight Indigenous perspectives.
‘Always Was Tonight examined Indigenous Australians’ lived experiences through satire, social observation and comedy,’ an ABC spokesperson said.
‘The program was creative, insightful and sometimes challenging. It sought not to divide, but to contribute to a shared understanding.’
The show opened with Armstrong telling a studio audience it was ‘an honour to be the first black face fronting a comedy show on the ABC since Chris Lilley’.
He then said: ‘Tonight we’re giving the colony a colonoscopy. This show is black, it’s cracked and it wants its land back.’
Throughout the episode, Armstrong returned repeatedly to January 26, joking that Australia Day was ‘not a date to celebrate’.
He also mocked the use of Welcome to Country ceremonies by cutting to a satirical version delivered by the comedy group Aunty Donna.
One recurring segment, Captain Cooks, saw Armstrong searing steaks at a barbecue while suggesting Australia Day gatherings would be ‘ruined’ if discussions of genocide were raised.
Government figures say the timing of the broadcast fuels division following recent national tragedies
Armstrong played 35 AFL games for Adelaide, Sydney and Collngwood, later becoming a respected media presenter after retiring.
The opposition has called for the ACMA to assess whether the ABC breached its charter or classification standards
In one line, he said the topic might ‘ruin the barbecue’ before returning to the grill.
In another skit, Armstrong interviewed a character introduced as the ‘ambassador for white Australia’ to provide the ‘white perspective’, before undercutting the segment with jokes about panel discussions and representation.
Former Bachelorette star Brooke Blurton also appeared in the episode, delivering mock future headlines that took aim at billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart, Barnaby Joyce, Bob Katter and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
At one point, she referred to Rinehart as ‘the owner of Australia’s biggest hole’.
A separate parody advertisement for a fictional product called ‘Whitre10’ claimed to offer ‘everything a white supremacist needs’ to protest on January 26, while another skit featured the Rainbow Serpent discussing cost-of-living pressures.
The episode closed on a serious note, with Armstrong addressing youth incarceration rates and the age of criminal responsibility, which he said was just 10 years old in most jurisdictions.
‘Our government thinks these kids are too young and vulnerable to use a TikTok account, but we’re comfortable shoving them in prison,’ he said.
‘I’d tell you more, but that might ruin the barbecue.’
Armstrong also told viewers the program would return next year ‘unless the ABC was racist or something’.
McIntosh said elements of the program were ‘deeply offensive’ and raised concerns about segments involving children, alleging imagery that she said evoked Ku Klux Klan symbolism through references to ‘Triple J’ morphing into ‘Triple K’.
‘To know that children would have been encouraged and coached during the filming of this disgraceful segment is grotesque,’ she said, calling on Communications Minister Anika Wells to demand a full investigation into whether the broadcast breached the ABC’s charter or classification standards.
The ABC said it had taken ‘careful and responsible steps’ to protect children involved in the production, confirming an Indigenous psychologist was present and that the shoot was registered with the NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian.
