{"id":945993,"date":"2026-10-30T05:20:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T05:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/945993\/"},"modified":"2026-10-30T05:20:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T05:20:15","slug":"liberal-senator-admits-mistake-after-grilling-abc-execs-about-gaza-journalists-hamas-id-amanda-meade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/945993\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberal senator admits mistake after grilling ABC execs about Gaza journalist\u2019s \u2018Hamas\u2019 ID | Amanda Meade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sarah Henderson has admitted that she wrongly accused a late Palestinian journalist, Roshdi Sarraj<\/a>, who filed video for the ABC from Gaza, of holding \u201ca Hamas ID card\u201d in a fiery Senate estimates hearing this week.<\/p>\n

The clash between the Liberal senator and ABC executives led to a headline in The Australian: \u201cABC investigates whether it hired Hamas terrorist for Middle-East coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n

The opposition communications spokesperson had held up a printout of an Israeli defence force report, saying: \u201cTheir work includes the fact that Sarraj has a Hamas ID card. And you don\u2019t think that\u2019s sufficient evidence?\u201d<\/p>\n

After estimates Henderson realised that she had made a mistake and called the ABC managing director, Hugh Marks, to say so.<\/p>\n

Henderson told Weekly Beast she had referenced the wrong Palestinian journalist and had written to the Senate communications committee to correct the record in Hansard.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the IDF concluded Mr Al-Sarraj was a Hamas military operative, I incorrectly said he held a Hamas ID card rather than the two Al Jazeera journalists I referenced in the hearing who had Hamas military ID numbers,\u201d Henderson said.<\/p>\n

The ABC\u2019s editorial director, Gavin Fang, had been sparring with Henderson over the national broadcaster\u2019s response to IDF claims<\/a> that 170 media workers \u2013 including Sarraj \u2013 killed in the conflict were Hamas operatives.<\/p>\n

Henderson said Fang had dismissed evidence she called \u201coverwhelming and very compelling\u201d that the public broadcaster had hired a Hamas terrorist.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr Marks, Mr Fang is being completely flippant in relation to this matter,\u201d she said \u201cThere\u2019s very, very serious and significant evidence in relation to the ABC stringer that he was someone the ABC hired who was a Hamas terrorist, and the fact that you are being so flippant about the very significant evidence uncovered by the IDF is deeply concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Fang said the IDF had not provided any evidence to the ABC that Sarraj had active links to the terrorist organisation.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo for the best of our knowledge [Sarraj] was a legitimate journalist who was tragically killed,<\/a>\u201d he told estimates. \u201cUntil we are able to find something that goes to the veracity of that claim, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s incumbent on us \u2026 to declare that that person was a member of Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Offside?<\/p>\n

As an ABC presenter, the Offsiders host, Abbey Gelmi, is bound by the ABC\u2019s external work guidelines, so we wondered if the former Seven sports reporter had to seek Aunty\u2019s approval for all her commercial Instagram posts<\/a>. Because that could be a full-time job for an ABC manager.<\/p>\n

An ad for Olay on Abbey Gelmi\u2019s Instagram account<\/p>\n

Her latest posts include paid partnerships with Bunnings and Olay skincare, while others spruik fashion labels, design studios, hotels, furniture and makeup.<\/p>\n

When she was hired by the ABC in January 2025 to host the Sunday sports show, Gelmi already had a podcast, Two Good Sports, and a regular radio role with GOLD FM which would have been approved upfront.<\/p>\n

An ABC spokesperson told Weekly Beast: \u201cWe don\u2019t comment on arrangements for individual workers. Generally speaking, endorsement of commercial products or services may be acceptable under the guidelines if it does not undermine a worker\u2019s perceived or actual ability to perform their role, or the independence or integrity of ABC content they contribute to.\u201d<\/p>\n

We are struck by how different this treatment is to that handed out to the former ABC presenter Tony Armstrong, who was called out by Media Watch for voicing an NRMA insurance ad in which his name and likeness were not featured.<\/p>\n

At the time the ABC said the voiceover had been done without managers\u2019 knowledge and had resulted from a \u201cmisunderstanding\u201d with Armstrong\u2019s representatives<\/a> external to the ABC.<\/p>\n

The broadcaster said Armstrong\u2019s representatives \u201chave been provided a copy of the external work guidelines and reminded all ABC employees are required to meet them\u201d.<\/p>\n

Privately, ABC management defends its position, saying Gelmi is \u201cnot exclusive ABC talent so there is some flexibility\u201d.<\/p>\n

Paul quotes Paul<\/p>\n

It\u2019s good to know that even a journalist with a storied career like Paul Kelly, the doyen of Australian political commentary, can make mistakes.<\/p>\n

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In his column for The Australian this week the editor-at-large quoted the Victorian senator and frontbencher James Paterson as telling the Today show: \u201cIf the Liberals didn\u2019t win this one, they\u2019d seriously be asking questions about why they exist\u201d while a majority win \u201cwould be an important message to the nation\u201d.<\/p>\n

But Paterson didn\u2019t say that. It was the chief political correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age, Paul Sakkal, who did.<\/p>\n

Instead of correcting the attribution of the quote online the Oz just deleted the entire<\/a> paragraph. Maybe it didn\u2019t want to quote a political reporter from a rival newspaper.<\/p>\n

We asked the editor-in-chief, Michelle Gunn, why the error hadn\u2019t been noted in the paper or online, as is customary, and she didn\u2019t reply.<\/p>\n

Making the Cut<\/p>\n

Victoria\u2019s opposition leader, Jess Wilson, chose the rightwing influencer Calista Clements, better known as the Calista Cut, to sit down with her this week for a cosy chat posted on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jess Wilson sits down with Calista Clements in an interview in the influencer\u2019s home posted to Instagram<\/p>\n

The Liberal leader is doing the rounds before the state election campaign formally kicks off<\/a> next week. With 200,000 followers across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, the 25-year-old social media commentator looked to be a good choice.<\/p>\n

Wilson\u2019s strategy is paying off: across social media, she leads in share of voice at 53.9% to Ben Carroll\u2019s 46.1%, according to the media monitoring provider Streem.<\/p>\n

The two women giggled like best friends as they chatted about Victorian Labor\u2019s wasteful spending \u2013 and their favourite coffee order, pub haunts and Melbourne streets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks for having me! I\u2019m determined to fix this state for all Victorians,\u201d Wilson commented on the post.<\/p>\n

But did Wilson, who has declared herself a small-l liberal, realise who she was buddying up with?<\/p>\n

A former member of the Victorian Libs, Clements has said the party has lost its way and she is now \u201cPauline Hanson<\/a>-curious\u201d. She has said the child sexual abuse survivor and advocate Grace Tame has adopted a \u201cvictim mentality\u201d; she is against Wear it Purple day in schools; and says Ben Roberts-Smith\u2019s arrest was \u201cinsane\u201d. She also defended Karl Stefanovic for interviewing the far-right UK influencer Tommy Robinson, and repeated claims that Pakistani men were prone to being rapists, citing a false claim that 80% of UK rapes were committed by Pakistani nationals.<\/p>\n

A campaign spokesperson told Weekly Beast: \u201cJess is happy to speak with people from a broad range of backgrounds and political perspectives.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgreeing to an interview does not mean endorsing every view expressed by the interviewer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Disclosure exposure<\/p>\n

Vikki Campion writes a weekly column for the Saturday Telegraph and has begun a new role as a consultant to One Nation<\/a>, the party her husband, Barnaby Joyce, represents as an MP.<\/p>\n

After Guardian Australia put questions to her this month<\/a> she replied: \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone who has read my column would be shocked that I would want to help One Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the Telegraph clearly took note because a disclosure was added to her column that she is \u201ca contract consultant to One Nation NSW\u201d.<\/p>\n

Last weekend the disclosure was online<\/a> but not in the paper, leaving us unclear whether Campion has lost her One Nation gig or the transparency was short-lived.<\/p>\n