Dear Editor,

The UN General Assembly adopted the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on December 16, 1966. Australia ratified it on August 30, 1980.

ICCPR Article 19(1) states: Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.

Knowing that, and understanding that the ABC is government funded, then it was interesting to hear what the ABC’s Media Watch had to say this week.

Media Watch reported that attempts by Sall Grover to express her opinion on women’s rights and the need for legal clarity on sex were rejected by the ABC.

She was writing in response to an opinion piece run by the ABC by legal scholar Paula Gurber, a supporter of trans rights, in the hope that the ABC would print her response on their webpage.

Her attempts were rejected three times even after amending the piece. Eventually she gave it to The Australian to publish.

Whilst freedom of the press is not a right in Australia, you would still expect a government funded body like the ABC to uphold Article 19 (1) above and ask themselves whether they interfered in the political opinion of an Australian citizen?

Or does the ABC now believe in censorship because an opinion doesn’t fit the ABC’s views?

One gets a feeling that this is a case of clear bias by the ABC by not showing impartiality towards someone giving an opinion, that seems to not fall in line with the ABC’s own views.

Let the readers have the freedom to decide whether they agree or disagree and allow them to challenge the accuracy or otherwise of the opinion – without interference from the ABC.

Gerry Wood, Howard Springs

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