Gina Rinehart says ABC Ombudsman finding 'fails all Australian women'

Gina Rinehart says ABC Ombudsman finding 'fails all Australian women' Sat 8 Aug 2026 at 3:19pm The company owned by Gina Rinehart AO has criticised the ABC Ombudsman after it found comments about her, which aired on an episode of Race Around the World, did not breach editorial standards. The episode, aired on July 12, featured contestant Kate McGuinness describing a fictional scenario that involved a violent attack on Mrs Rinehart, including mixing her "guts" to "make one big sausage roll". Mrs Rinehart's company, Hancock Prospecting, wrote to the ABC Board asking for the video to be taken down late last month, calling for a public apology and a "comprehensive investigation" into how the video came to be published by the ABC. ABC managing director Hugh Marks this week apologised to Mrs Rinehart, saying it fell short of community expectations. The ABC Ombudsman found that the episode did not breach the ABC Editorial Standards relating to harm and offence. A spokesperson for Hancock Prospecting said in a statement the ABC's Editorial Standards needed "significant improvement". "The internal ABC Ombudsman's decision that the ABC did not breach ABC Editorial Standards fails all Australian women and the millions of taxpayers who fund the ABC," the spokesperson said. Content 'normalised violent torture' The spokesperson criticised the "ongoing silence" from the ABC board, particularly chair Kim Williams and deputy chair Lisa Caffery. "The buck stops with the heads of the ABC," the spokesperson said. "We wait to see the long overdue changes to the ABC's editorial standards. "Such editorial standards need to stop sexual violence and torture-until-death episodes being shown or depicted in any form against any woman on the ABC, including under the pretence of satire or art or any other cloak." The spokesperson said they were waiting for a "detailed account" into how the "unacceptable piece" came to be aired and why it took 25 days for it to be removed. "The content shown on the ABC normalised violent torture against a woman till death, and dehumanised an Australian, such that she was worthless and OK to be sexually tortured, should not be and must not be acceptable in our country," they said. The spokesperson said it was a concept "practised by terrorists … and must never be regarded as art, or acceptable in our country, even by the ABC". ABC Ombudsman explains decision The matter was referred to the ABC Ombudsman following complaints about the content. The Ombudsman said the question it considered was not "whether the remarks were offensive or in good taste but whether any likely offence was justified by the editorial context". "Having regard to the program format, the filmmaker's established creative style, the surreal and hyperbolic nature of the film, the absence of any visual depiction of violence, and the criticism expressed by the judging panel," the Ombudsman found that a reasonable audience member "would be unlikely to interpret the remarks as a genuine call for, endorsement of, or encouragement of violence." The ABC Ombudsman leads an investigations team that assesses, investigates and reviews complaints about specific ABC content. While it reports to the ABC board, the ABC Ombudsman's Office "makes decisions objectively and independently from ABC content teams, ABC management and the ABC board". ABC to change guidance In an earlier statement, Hugh Marks said: "As part of our review of this matter, we have considered whether the guidance in the ABC Editorial Policies adequately reflects current community expectations." "We have also considered whether the relevant guidance sufficiently distinguishes between news and non-news content." As a result, the ABC will amend its guidance as it applies to violence. "The change, I think, will reflect the fact that no individual should be the subject of comedy that is violent in its description in our programming, and I think the ABC has to hold itself to a higher standard and I think it's really important we make that change," Marks said. "It's also important that we acknowledge we got this wrong. "So, we issue the apology, and we make the relevant changes so that it doesn't happen again." Contestant's apology McGuinness released a statement through the ABC last week, apologising to anyone she offended and saying the sense of humour featured in her films on Race Around the World was "farcical". "In no way was it my intention to promote violence," she said. "My writing is cartoonish and always satirical. "Unfortunately, jokes do not land with everyone. Its purpose was never to be taken literally." The film has been removed from the ABC's platforms and will be replaced with an edited video without the material subject to the complaint. [Image text:] Gold Coast 18 GoldCocst 2018