You might not have known that the Australian Monarchist League existed, but they do, and they’re angry.
On Thursday, the group is launching a petition against the ABC, asking them to apologise for their “biased” coverage of King Charles’s coronation. They are also asking for an independent inquiry into the broadcaster’s “hijacking” of the historic occasion.
The ABC was criticised by some after it aired a 45-minute discussion prior to the crowning of King Charles which featured pro-republic figures, including Q+A host Stan Grant.
Grant spoke about his family’s personal struggles caused by the colonisation of indigenous Australians.
“Before we get to the fantasy Australia, the Disneyland Australia, let’s deal with the real Australia,” Grant said in the broadcast.
“Let’s not imagine that we can just look at this ceremony tonight and see this as something that is distant, that is just ceremonial and doesn’t hold weight.”
“It is scars, it is broken bones and it is too many damaged souls and we need to heal.”
On Thursday, the Australian Monarchist League will launch a petition asking the ABC to apologise for “the manner in which the coverage … was presented”.
“The taxpayer deserved better … the ABC has a strict charter which was flagrantly disregarded,” the AML’s campaign chair, Eric Abetz, told The Australian on Wednesday. “Nothing less than a full independent inquiry into the circumstances of this highly inappropriate hijacking of the broadcasting of the coronation is required.
“This was history in the making. Instead of celebrating the occasion and informing viewers of who was arriving and their position and the traditions associated with the various elements of the coronation, viewers were subjected to a diatribe of monologues by ABC personnel peddling their pet subjects backing each other’s views.
“Knowing there would be a huge audience for the coronation, it appears the occasion was deliberately used to pursue an agenda to denigrate the constitutional monarchy which has served Australia so exceptionally well for well over a century.”
Earlier this week Melbourne’s 3AW presenter Neil Mitchell criticised the national broadcaster for its coverage of King Charles’ coronation which he said “totally misread the mood” and caused people to turn off.
