A man from Sydney’s west has been arrested and charged for levelling threats at the ABC’s Stan Grant, who last week took leave as Q+A host following a torrent of racial abuse directed at him after his appearance on the ABC’s coronation coverage.
NSW Police arrested a 41-year-old man in Fairfield Heights on Wednesday evening, following investigations into a report filed with Sydney City Police Area Comm and just before midday on Tuesday alleging online threats made against Grant, police told Crikey in a statement.
“The man was taken to Fairfield Police Station where he was charged with use carriage to threaten serious harm and carriage service to menace/harass/offend,” a police spokesperson said. The man was granted bail and will appear in court next Wednesday.
Grant, a Wiradjuri, Gurrawin and Dharawal man, announced in his weekly column last Friday that he would step away from his role as Q+A host for an extended period, following a sustained conservative media campaign that included more than 150 mentions of Grant’s name in the pages of The Australian and in footage on Sky News over the preceding fortnight, according to a manual count carried out by Crikey.
Grant said that since appearing as a panel guest as part of the ABC’s coverage of the coronation of King Charles III, he had seen “people in the media lie and distort” his words, and had faced surging racial abuse on social media directed at both him and his wife.
In a statement, the ABC said it wouldn’t tolerate threats against its journalists or broader staff, and that all credible threats will be reported to police.
“Stan Grant and his family have endured much over the past few weeks and have shown incredible resilience and courage. The ABC stands behind them,” ABC director of news Justin Stevens said in a statement.
“Toxic public discourse has real-life consequences for people and we in the media, as well as people using social media platforms, need to do all we can to foster kinder and more constructive conversation.”
In his column, Grant took aim at ABC executives for withholding public support of the coverage or not taking steps to refute “the lies” written and spoken about him. He called the silence an “institutional failure”, before giving an honorary mention to Stevens, who Grant said had been a source of “support and comfort”.
Stevens, in an interview with ABC Radio Melbourne, said he regretted not coming out in defence of the broadcaster’s coverage and Grant “10 days” sooner. He panned the News Corp newspapers for their coverage of the event, which he said amounted to a “campaign” against the broadcaster.
News Corp executive chairman Michael Miller told The Australian on Tuesday that the ABC needed to stop “blaming others for its own internal problems”, as the ABC’s coronation coverage and Grant’s subsequent leave continue to offer a lightning rod to some sections of the media.
Coverage on Thursday escalated to include paparazzi images of Grant and his wife, ABC journalist Tracey Holmes, leaving a police station in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. Images appeared on News Corp’s news.com.au as well as the Daily Mail.
In his final appearance on Q+A before taking eight weeks’ leave, Grant said the media should reflect on whether it is “honouring a world worth living in”.
“Too often, we are the poison in the bloodstream of our society. I fear the media does not have the love or the language to speak to the gentle spirits of our land,” Grant said.
“I’m not walking away for a while because of racism. We get that far too often. I’m not walking away because of social media hatred. I need a break from the media. I feel like I’m part of the problem. And I need to ask myself how or if we can do it better.”
