Dear Poirot,

I remember all the fuss that was made about
Andrew Bolt and his right to "Freedom of Speech" - when
Bolt lost his court case because of factual errors
in his column. And then we have our Attorney-General,
Brandis telling people - "It's allright to be a bigot."

I can't understand what all this fuss is about with this
Abbott-led boycott. The ABC has admitted it made an error
of judgement with the Zaky Mallah incident. Surely the
Government should be able to move on from that.

There are several Reviews into the incident - more expense.
And for what? There have been so many inquiries into the
alleged "bias" of the ABC over the years. No inquiry has
found any evidence of this - a fortune has been spent.
The ABC is one of the most scrutinised organisations in this
country.

The latest over-reach on the behalf of the Government smacks
of pettiness and bias. It is not objective by any stretch of
the imagination.

Malcolm Turnbull and other pollies have made it quite clear
they will not be part of the Government boycott.
Mr Turnbull has stated -

"We need to take advantage of every platform that's
available. We're in the business of getting the message
of the Government across... So I'll continue to appear on
ABC programs, including Q&A, if I'm invited to be there!"

Dear Bazz,

Seems that you're the one getting upset over all this.
At least that shows you do have feelings on the issue.

BTW: - There are three reviews currently on the
ABC - The Government Review, ABC Review, and
Malcolm Turnbull's Review. The ABC is one of the most
scrutinised organisations in this country.
And talking about "bias," - there's been a review on
the ABC at least every 3 years by conservative governments.
None have found any evidence to the detriment of the ABC.

Abbott's stalanistic approach to his hatred of ABC.
If you don't like something shut it down, if you don,t like what it looks like throw a bag over it. The journalism of ABC far outway the shriveled brain of Abbott to comprehend.

otb,

"Poirot, needs to take a Bex and have a nice lie down.

I could say, if I was game, that the ladies are becoming hysterical."

That is worth at least three chuckles and a guffaw!

"Hyserical" is the most appropriate description to the Abbott "beat-up" of QandA.

"Hysterical" is also the most appropriate description of the Abbott "beat-up" of the IS threat to Australia.

I've lost count of the number of prominent people throughout the world who have voiced their disbelief at the Abbott govt's terror hysteria, pointing out that nowhere else in the West is this sort of tripe being pushed.

By all means, acknowledge the threat, but don't blow it into ridiculous proportions for political gain. Notably, Turnbull has pointed that out - shame that Shorten didn't.

Two items on the IPA wish list called for the demise of the ABC - Abbott is merely following orders and making himself look more of a prat (if that's possible) in the process.

Apologies, otb...should have directed that to Bazz : )

I think that many people are sick of the secrecy involved
in our current political scene.

Accountability and transparency should be part of
Government's job.

Ray Hunt posed an interesting question recently
to Q&A:

"Greg Sheridan rejected discussions of Abbott's tactics in
his university days of intimidation and drowning out
opposition as ridiculous. Are such discussions still
ridiculous if the behaviour continues. What are the
attacks on Gillian Triggs if not intimidation. What is the
defunding of lobby groups with opposing views if not
the drowning out of opposition? Ad Dr Phil says -
'The best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour,"

Add to the threat of jail sentences for
doctors, nurses, social workers and other "entrusted persons"
who dare to speak out about the conditions in detention centres.

Greg Sheridan did also state that Mr Abbott's boycott of the
Q&A program was an over-reach reaction. And, this from a
conservative journalist writing for The Australian.

Fox,

Off you go into the wide blue.

BTT

What about this?

<If the boot was on the other foot there would be screams of self-serving bias at the team chosen by the ABC to review itself.

Here is one of the two, Ray Martin, in full flight,

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/ray-martin-urged-to-step-down-from-qa-review-after-calling-boycott-silly-20150707-gi75x0.html

Is that how an impartial reviewer acts and prior to even completing the review?>