Former Australian of Year Grace Tame has been hired by the ABC to showcase a four-episodes podcast on autism.
She has, in recent months, called to “globalise the intifada” and told the ABC that reports of brutal sexual attacks on Jewish women perpetrated during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, had been debunked.
The CEO of the Australian Jewish Association, Robert Gregory, said: “I thought the ABC announcement was a joke. I simply could not believe that Australia’s public broadcaster could be so tone-deaf.”
He added: “Tame was condemned across the political spectrum and has publicly complained about difficulties obtaining speaking engagements following her comments but it appears that nothing is too outrageous for the ABC. The question Australians should be asking is simple: with so many talented and respected people available, why did the ABC choose Grace Tame?T
This decision demonstrates a profound lack of judgment and a disregard for the concerns of many Australians, particularly within the Jewish community. It reinforces the growing perception that ABC management is increasingly out of touch with the communities it is supposed to serve. ABC would have been aware of the distress this decision would cause to many Australians, and it therefore seems designed to generate controversy.”
Gregory said that Australian taxpayers fund an organisation whose “decisions and content many Australians find deeply objectionable.”
Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, commented: “It seems the ABC has determined that Grace Tame is fit for employment at public expense after screaming chants widely interpreted as calling for global attacks on Jews and a radio interview in which she doubled down on her comments questioning the widespread pack rape and sexual torture committed by Hamas, which the terrorists themselves never denied. Everyone deserves a second chance, but Tame has shown no remorse or regret whatsoever.
The effect of this is to legitimise her violent views and sends a message that her obscene conduct carries no consequences and even brings public contracts.”