The ABC’s Q&A program does not have a “left wing anti-Coalition bias” and is equally a challenge to both sides of politics, according to a draft report of the long-awaited review of Q&A obtained by Guardian Australia.



The key criticism by former prime minister Tony Abbott that the popular panel program hosted by Tony Jones is a “lefty lynch mob” was effectively dismissed by the report’s authors broadcaster Ray Martin and former managing director of SBS Shaun Brown.

In June after former terror suspect Zaky Mallah asked a question on the program there was an outcry from the Coalition and critics of the ABC and Abbott called for “heads to roll” at the national broadcaster.

The Murdoch newspapers were particularly harsh, depicting the ABC logo as an Isis flag and saying the Mallah appearance was “deliberately manufactured by the ABC to ambush guests”.

But according to the the document seen by Guardian Australia, Martin and Brown studied six months’ worth of programs aired this year and concluded that while Q&A was a “challenge” to the Coalition government in 2015 it was also a challenge to the Labor government in 2012.

Far from finding that it had too many local panelists from the left, the report said the program needed to have more Greens and independents.

Overseas guests tended to be more from the progressive side of politics, however, and should be balanced with more conservatives. Among the key recommendations was that the program needed to have a better gender balance and needed to travel more widely.

The program should have a “broader focus and a greater diversity of perspectives to avoid being too much of an attack on the government of the day, regardless of which particular party is in power”, the report said.

Abbott had accused the ABC of betraying millions of Australians by giving a platform to a “convicted criminal and terrorist sympathiser” after the appearance of Zaky Mallah in the audience on Q&A on Monday night.

In the Coalition party room he had labelled the program a “lefty lynch mob” and later he publicly attacked the ABC and ordered a ban on Cabinet ministers appearing.

“They’ve given this disgraceful individual a platform and in so doing I believe the national broadcaster has badly let us down,” Abbott said at the time.

“I think many millions of Australians would feel betrayed by our national broadcaster right now. I do think the ABC needs to have a long hard look at itself, and answer a question I’ve posed before: whose side are you on?“Fair enough, we all believe in free speech, but in the end, you all have to make judgements.”

The ABC’s external review, which examined audience selection, panel selection and make up, subject selection and social media strategy, was actually ordered before the Mallah furore, as part of a routine round of editorial reviews by the board.

“As announced prior to last week’s broadcast, the ABC board had determined that a comprehensive independent review of the Q&A program should take place, looking at [the] full range of programs over the first half of 2015,” the board said in a statement on 1 July.

“This Editorial Review focused primarily on the performance of the ABC program Q&A against the impartiality standards in programs broadcast between 2 February 2015 – 29 June 2015.”

Reviewers were provided with a copy of the ABC Editorial Policies, with their attention specifically drawn to the Impartiality and Diversity of Perspectives section, according to the terms of reference.

Following an internal review of the Mallah episode the ABC board issued a formal warning against Q&A executive producer Peter McEvoy under the misconduct provisions of the ABC’s industrial agreement for having Mallah on the live program.

“Given [Mallah’s] criminal background and past public statements, the live broadcast meant that the ABC was not in a position to manage unpredictable or inappropriate actions or responses,” the board said in a statement.

“There was inadequate consideration given to important issues around his presence in the studio, considering his previous actions, his desire for the media spotlight and some of his public comments.”

McEvoy is still the executive producer and the program is moving from the television to the news division in 2016.