Indigenous and political leaders have slammed the ABC for branding a crisis meeting on the Alice Springs crime wave as being ‘filled with white supremacists’.
ABC’s flagship radio show AM was accused of biased coverage in its reporting on the Save Alice Springs meeting attended by hundreds of fed-up locals on Monday.
The audience at the town hall meeting was comprised of terrified families, business owners and Indigenous leaders.
But the ABC’s radio segment featured only people who labelled the meeting ‘racist’, including one who said it was a ‘scary’ ‘white supremacist fest’.
Now Alice Springs mayor Matt Patterson is demanding a retraction from the ABC, and Indigenous politician Warren Mundine has branded the reporting ‘disgraceful.’
Thousands of locals gathered at a crisis meeting in Alice Springs on Monday night to discuss the town’s youth crime wave
Alice Springs Mayor Matt Paterson has called for the ABC report to be retracted
‘The ABC cherry-picked a few people within the crowd to get their view on it,’ Mayor Patterson told Nine’s Today show on Thursday.
‘It certainly wasn’t the way the meeting was run. It was categorically incorrect. The organiser of the event ran it very well.
‘He was very sensitive, gave every person the opportunity to come up on stage and share their story. The article put forward by the ABC is factually incorrect.’
He added: ‘At the end of the day, we had 3000 people come together demanding change who are clearly fed up with what’s happening in Alice Springs.’
The ABC reporter Carly Williams interviewed one woman who told her: ‘It was really a disgusting show of white supremacy… It was really, really disappointing.
‘It was scary to be in that room.’
Another told the program: ‘Tension and violence and anger in the room was palpable.
‘it was clearly all around white supremacy and the safety of white people in this town – and that is all that was being considered.’
Yet another described the meeting as ‘bizarre’ and ‘dangerous’.
During a live cross on ABC TV, Williams said ’emotional’ people were ‘leaving early and streaming out of the convention centre’, with just one interview in the report.
‘It’s a total white supremacist fest in there – and I can tell you – it was scary,’ the woman interviewed said.
ABC reporter Carly Williams (pictured) gave a live cross for the broadcaster’s TV program and submitted a radio segment
Former Alice Springs mayor Jacinta Price blasted the national broadcaster for its one-sided slant on the meeting organised by local businessman Garth Thompson.
‘They had 3000 people to choose from and they chose to listen to the voices of three bleeding hearts,’ the Country Liberal MP told Sky News Australia.
‘They don’t care for the kids on the streets. They’re completely disconnected from the lives of these kids.
‘Ultimately, they’re the ones who are creating the issues for these young people.
‘They had no right to go in there and accuse everyone of being racist.’
She said the meeting was brought to an early end after 20 minutes when it was disrupted by ‘progressives’.
‘They wanted to go around calling everyone rednecks and nazis, which is utter nonsense,’ she said.
Former Alice Springs mayor Jacinta Price (right) blasted the national broadcaster for its one-sided slant on the meeting and Warren Mundine (left) said he was ‘shocked’ by the reporting.
‘Local residents, white and Indigenous were turning round and telling them to rack off, and how dare they bring that nonsense to a community meeting.’
Warren Mundine said he was ‘shocked’ by the reporting.
‘I listened to that report and I thought these people are off with the fairies,’ he told Sky News Australia.
‘I thought they went to a different universe, a different dimension from what was happening at that meeting. It’s disgraceful reporting, quite frankly.
‘They didn’t talk to anyone else. They just spoke to a small handful of people and they’re made out as a sort of like some Klu Klux Klan meeting going on inside.
‘These are decent Australian citizens, black and white, who were there to resolve a whole lot of issues that are happening in that community.’
Alice Springs in the Northern Territory has recently descended into chaos with locals now afraid to go to sleep in fear of home intruders
Other locals offered different portrayals of the meeting.
‘I am so proud to see the number of locals giving their time and support to help bring change,’ meeting orgainser Garth Thompson posted on Facebook after the event.
‘I’m proud to be a local here in Alice Springs, the community coming together tonight was a showing of what is possible in our amazing town!’
2GB host Ben Fordham also blasted the national broadcaster on air on Wednesday.
‘Out of the thousands of people who attended the meeting, we only heard from one person in that report – a woman who had left early,’ he said.
‘We didn’t hear from the terrified locals or the worried mums and dads – we only heard of claims of racism from a woman who walked out [of the meeting] – someone who did not represent the whole mood in the room.
‘And there were no examples given of the so-called ”white supremacy” – no quotes, no footage, no audio.
‘We didn’t hear from any of the concerned locals, they didn’t play any of the comments from inside the hall – I’m not sure if [she] was inside – that was not clear from her story.’
Fordham said the AM segment was ‘even worse’ than the TV report.
‘Their coverage of the meeting was reckless and ruthlessly one-sided,’ Fordham said.
‘They ignored the issues…And just turned into a fight between black and white. And IF racist comments were made… what were they? And where’s the proof?’
The Prime Minister recently made a short visit to the town where he announced new alcohol restrictions
In response to the outcry, an ABC spokesman rejected the accusations of bias, saying the broadcaster’s coverage of the issue has reflected diverse perspectives.
‘The ABC’s long-running reporting on the issues facing Alice Springs has included a range of perspectives and will continue to canvass people’s views and experiences as coverage continues,’ they said.
‘Many strong and conflicting views and opinions are expressed within the community, including some confronting views, and the news coverage reflects that and doesn’t shy away from it.’
Williams, a First Nations Quandamooka woman, is a journalist with the ABC’s audio and current affairs team.
Federal and territory governments have designated cash to extra policing as they consider reintroducing alcohol bans in Indigenous communities.
The calls for action come as videos have emerged of youth violence within the town’s streets, with a clip surfacing on Tuesday of a boy being attacked by other teens with an axe.
Namfon Fon’s son, 16, was set upon by three youths armed with an axe who struck him on his ‘face, stomach, leg and other parts of his body’ in Alice Springs on Monday
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