Hancock slams ‘dehumanising’ ABC Rinehart skit despite apology

Gina Rinehart’s mining company has accused the ABC of dehumanising its executive chairwoman and endorsing sexual torture after a Race Around the World contestant joked of turning the mining magnate’s “guts” into a “big sausage roll”.

In a statement made through Hancock Prospecting on Saturday, a spokesperson said they wanted to see “long-overdue changes to the ABC’s ‘editorial standards’.”

ABC boss Hugh Marks apologised to Rinehart on Thursday and pulled the joke from the ABC’s website and streaming service after the billionaire threatened to sue, following a sustained campaign from News Corp outlets.

The independent ombudsman found the short film, titled A Very Relaxing Video, did not breach ABC’s editorial policies, labelling the segment “satirical and exaggerated commentary” and not a call for violence.

But Marks said the skit fell short of community expectations and the ABC had considered whether its existing policies “sufficiently distinguishes between news and non-news content”.

The Hancock Prospecting spokesperson said the ombudsman’s decision “fails all Australian women and the millions of taxpayers who fund the ABC”.

“It should not be surprising that these standards need significant improvement, if taxpayers are expected to think it is OK to meet the ABC’s lavish expenditure and OK to have dehumanising content of any Australian woman, such that it is OK to be sexually tortured until death,” they said.

“This concept that a woman can be regarded as worthless, (even if she has contributed hugely to a country), so it’s OK to sexually torture her to death, is not a new concept. It is practised by terrorists and has been practised elsewhere in the world, and must never be regarded as art, or acceptable in our country, even by the ABC.”

The spokesperson called on ABC chair Kim Williams, deputy chair Lisa Caffery and the ABC board to answer for the decision to air the episode and keep it live for weeks while the review was held.

Federal politicians across the political spectrum slammed the segment last week. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young called it “disgusting”, while deputy prime minister Richard Marles said he was surprised it was kept live for so long. Communications Minister Anika Wells said she would await the findings of the independent ombudsman.

The segment, aired July 12, concluded with contestant Kate McGuinness saying: “When the revolution comes, will you hide under the bed or will you know exactly how to shove a stick right up Gina Rinehart’s butthole, stirring it round, mixing her guts up nice and smooth, to make one big sausage roll to make something out of nothing.”

McGuiness apologised to Rinehart last week, saying the sense of humour depicted was “farcical” and that she had not intended to promote violence.
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