After the sudden resignation of Stan Grant as host of the ABC’s flagship current affairs programme Q+A, well known drag performer and former Play School presenter Courtney Act has been announced as his replacement.
A short while ago the ABC made the announcement on Twitter:
We’re excited to announce that Q+A will have its first non-binary host – Courtney Act!
We would like to express our deep gratitude to outgoing host Stan Grant for his contributions to diversity and inclusion in the Australian media, and wish him all the best for the future.
Courtney says they are excited to be taking o such an exciting opportunity to represent the LGPTQI community, and says they have some stunning and brave ideas already in the works to spice up the show.
This is especially important in this time, as members of the LGPTQI community are increasingly under attack from the far right. Tolerance is not negotiable at the ABC, that is our values and a cornerstone of our democracy.
An ABC spokesperson advised XYZ News that future Q+A guests would be strongly encouraged to state their pronouns at the start of every episode, and audience members would be likewise encouraged to do the same before presenting questions to the panellists.
The hasty reshuffle comes after Stan Grant announced he was “stepping back for a while” after the disastrous fallout from his hate filled anti-White rhetoric on an ABC segment which aired just before the Coronation of King Charles III:
‘There is no Indigenous foundation, no Indigenous heritage to Australia, Australia sought to erase the Indigenous heritage,’ Grant said.
‘We weren’t at the Federation discussions, we weren’t at the table, indeed we weren’t counted when the Constitution was written.’
He went on to say that ‘we don’t read history in a linear way’.
‘It is scars, it is broken bones and it is too many damaged souls, and we need to heal and bring love to the hearing,’ he continued.
‘This conversation is so important, I am so glad we can have this because it is necessary.’
The avalanche of complaints proved so strong that the ABC may be forced to run an official investigation to determine whether the segment breached its Charter.
XYZ News cannot confirm reports that Grant’s comments have been referred to the Australian Human Rights Commission, however we will keep readers posted as soon as the situation changes.
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