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Ita Buttrose airs unapologetic views on immigration as Albanese returns to ABC Hard Chat a decade on

Former ABC chair says Australia has allowed ‘divisive groups’ into the country. Plus: national broadcaster unveils plans for more short-form news video

Ita Buttrose has revealed her views on immigration while on a book tour for her memoir Unapologetically Ita. Buttrose stepped down as chair in March 2024.

“I think we’re more divided,” the former chair of the ABC said during an online interview with Prof Henry Brodaty from the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing. “I don’t think the multicultural society that that we’ve spoken about so proudly in Australia is working as well as it could be.”

“And that’s because we’ve allowed divisive groups to come into Australia, but, and that’s fine. I mean, we need all points of view, but this is Australia, so I think we have to be emphatic that you try and live our way, not the way you did when you were in the country that you left to become an Australian, because most people that do come here do end up taking out citizenship.”

Elsewhere in the chat, the 83-year-old former media executive said she was proud of the fact that no one had ever known what her politics were.

Hard copy

Back in 2015 when Anthony Albanese was a shadow minister, he sat down with comedian Tom Gleeson for a memorable interview on a segment called Hard Chat on Charlie Pickering’s The Weekly on ABC TV.

Albo said if Gleeson was still around in a decade he would come on again. “You’ll still be here, no doubt, in a decade,” Albanese, now the prime minister, said.

Last week, Albo made good on his promise, and recorded an interview with Gleeson, according to industry blog TV Tonight.

“If Tom can bring a crew to Canberra, we can try to organise one special edition of Hard Chat for those old enough to remember it,” the PM said in July.

Gleeson: “I retired the segment five years ago but I thought the first ever Hard Chat with a sitting prime minister was worth coming back for. I was worried I would be rusty but it turns out disdain for authority figures comes pretty naturally.”

The prime minister’s office confirmed the interview had been recorded and sent us the photos, with Toto on the PM’s lap, as proof.

ABC reveals 2026 lineup

A drama about robodebt, a miniseries about Indigenous tennis star Evonne Goolagong Cawley and a mystery starring Anna Torv as a detective investigating gender-based violence lead the ABC’s bumper crop of new shows for 2026.

Eight months into his term as ABC managing director, Hugh Marks is talking up the offering, saying the list of 60 prime-time premium television series announced on Thursday is up from 43 in 2025.

The director of the ABC’s screen division, Jennifer Collins, appointed by Marks in a reshuffle in June, says that without the audience’s appetite for Australian content, competition from the likes of Netflix and general fragmentation of the audience would be “a concern”.

“When we launch these shows, there’s a real appreciation that they’re seeing Australian stories on the screen, seeing Australian actors on the screen, and that they can see a bit of themselves on the screen,” Collins told Weekly Beast.

“So I think for us as a public broadcaster, that’s the most exciting thing, that there’s a real, genuine appetite for our content.”

Collins is particularly excited about Torv’s Dustfall; the miniseries Goolagong, which stars Whadjuk and Wardandi Noongar woman Lila McGuire in the titular role; and the robodebt drama Shakedown.

“It’s one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in Australian history and we will focus on the human stories: the grieving mothers whose sons took their own lives; the Centrelink worker who blew the whistle after decades of loyalty; and the digital activists who helped bring the scandal to light,” Collins said.

Chair Kim Williams’ desire to see more documentary on the ABC will be answered by Tampa: The Boat That Turned the Tide (reported by Sarah Ferguson); Judgment: Cases That Changed Australia; and Rolf Harris: Can You Tell What I Am Yet? about the disgraced Australian entertainer. The high court series will examine the judgments about Mabo, marriage equality, immigration and the right to vote.

Marc Fennell is back with an exploration of modern masculinity and the rise of the online “manosphere” and Tony Armstrong has a one-off entertainment show around Australia Day, Always Was Tonight, which promises to “decolonise news one headline at a time”.

Making short work of it

After a week of hammering by a Murdoch press intent on drawing Aunty into a BBC crisis, an unbowed MD said at the National Press Club that the attacks were not “legitimate criticism”, and asserted that the ABC is a “precious national asset”.

Traditionalists will hate it but the ABC has also unveiled plans for more short-form video for news on social media, and Marks gushed about the particular skills some young journalists have for presenting news on TikTok.

The director of ABC News, Justin Stevens, said ABC News Loop will add depth to social media feeds.

“A huge number of Australians of all ages access news and information on social media platforms,” Stevens said. “But these platforms are rife with opinion, misinformation and disinformation.

“ABC News Loop will play a proactive role bringing social audiences fact-based and dynamic news explainers – unpacking and explaining the news, not telling people what to think.”

Once burnt …

The ABC has been quiet for a month since it announced it was investigating former bikie turned Four Corners reporter Mahmood Fazal for his participation in a podcast sponsored by an online casino.

Fazal appeared in the external podcast about underworld crime with the Melbourne producer Ryan Naumenko, who described himself as once having associated with the mafia. A spectacular falling out between the two men ensued.

“Mahmood’s immediate manager endorsed him taking part in a podcast interview, based on the information provided to him,” an ABC spokesperson said in October.

“The interview did not receive final approval by the ABC as part of the external work guidelines. After the interview aired, which included gambling ads, his manager withdrew endorsement of the work. ABC management is looking further into this matter.”

Marks revealed at the press club that the Antoinette Lattouf saga, which has cost the ABC upwards of $2.5m, taught the broadcaster an expensive lesson.

“When something goes wrong, follow the process,” he said. “Make sure we do all the things that are necessary to have a rigorous and thoughtful investigation of whatever occurs.

“So we’re going through that process … I can’t give you a date as to when it will finish, but it’s important that we follow the process, and we do it in a respectful, measured, considered way.”

Groth gets off-court apology

In July when the Victorian Liberal party deputy leader and former Australian tennis star, Sam Groth, threatened legal action over reports in the Murdoch tabloids, the stage was set for a test of the newly updated national laws that allow courts to award up to $478,000 in damages for serious privacy breaches.

But the test case is not to be after the Herald Sun apologised online and in print this week and took down all the articles that it was alleged had suggested their relationship had begun when Brittany was underage.

It’s taken four months to reach the out-of-court settlement. The Herald Sun initially doubled down and published another report despite the threats of defamation and privacy suits, claiming Groth and his wife, Brittany, were attempting to “shut down discussion” on a matter of public interest.

“We stand by our reporting on a matter of public interest, covering important issues which could have a major impact on Victorian politics in the lead-up to an election,” Herald Sun editor Sam Weir said.

This week came the backflip.

“In July and August 2025, the Herald Sun published a series of articles about Sam Groth and Brittany Groth,” the apology read.

“The Herald Sun did not intend to suggest and does not suggest that Mr and Mrs Groth have engaged in any wrongdoing.

“The Herald Sun recognises that this story has taken a significant toll on the Groth family and apologises to the Groths for the hurt the articles caused.”

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