ABC under fire for airing segment describing violent assault of Gina Rinehart

An offensive ABC segment that aired slurring mining magnate Gina Rinehart has led to senior executives at Hancock Prospecting demanding an apology from the taxpayer-funded broadcaster.

In the program Race Around The World, which aired last Sunday, it featured a segment dubbed “a very relaxing video” filmed in Scotland.

It depicted the mining magnate being violently assaulted and remains online.

During the four-minute clip, contestant Kate McGuinness goes on a bizarre rant where she talks about her fantasy of torturing Mrs Rinehart.

A Hancock Prospecting spokesman described the content as “appalling material”, “nothing short of disgusting” and has demanded an apology from the public broadcaster.

“This appalling material, presented by the taxpayer-funded ABC as ‘entertainment’, illustrated and graphically described Mrs Rinehart being sodomised and tortured in a manner that would kill her,“ the spokesman said.

“It is nothing short of disgusting that the ABC would encourage and normalise violence and murder by broadcasting, publishing and continuing to distribute this content.

“This was not an unscripted live comment; it passed through production, editorial and broadcast processes”.

In the video, Ms McGuinness encourages viewers to think about playing with sticks and then goes on to show herself swinging a stick above her head and says: “I’m haunted by a lost future, playing with sticks helps me to feel something”

She then turns to discuss how to perform a violent attack on Australia’s richest woman.

“Because when the revolution comes, will you hide under the bed,“ Ms McGuinness said.

“Or will you know exactly how to shove a stick right up Gina Rinehart’s butt hole, stirring it round, mixing her guts up nice and smooth, making her into one big sausage roll, to make something out of nothing.”

The Hancock Prospecting spokesman said the offensive material is unacceptable.

“If the ABC believes it can hide behind the false shield of ‘satire’ to glorify sexualised and political violence and murder, then it has completely lost sight of its editorial responsibilities and, surely, this is outside its charter?

“A public apology would be the minimum appropriate response, but more importantly, a light must be shone on who let this go to air in prime time, and action taken.”

After the clip aired, the four panellists on the program laughed at the content and only one of them, ABC presenter Leigh Sales, raised concerns about the short film and said it included a “nasty gag about Gina Rinehart”.

Just last week ABC chair Kim Williams said in an interview with Sky News host Chris Kenny that the ABC was not biased.

The video depicting an attack on Mrs Rinehart remains on the ABC’s channels and on YouTube.

In a statement published by The Australian this week, the ABC said the segment was “satirical in tone”.

“While contributors are not ABC journalists, all content broadcast by the ABC is subject to the ABC’s editorial standards, policies, and review processes,“ an ABC spokesperson said.

“In this case, the film was intended to be satirical in tone and considered to be editorially justifiable within the context of the program”.