ABC Alice Springs youth crime wave report slammed by Indigenous leaders Warrne Mundine Jacinta Price

Indigenous leaders and politicians have criticized ABC for calling a crisis meeting on the Alice Springs crime wave “full of white supremacists.”

ABC’s flagship radio show AM was accused of biased coverage in its reporting of the Save Alice Springs rally attended by thousands of fed-up locals on Monday.

The audience at the town hall meeting was made up of terrified families, business owners and indigenous leaders.

But the ABC radio segment only featured people who called the gathering “racist,” including one who called it a “white supremacist fest.”

Now Alice Springs Mayor Matt Patterson is demanding a retraction from ABC, and indigenous politician Warren Mundine has called the report “shameful.”

“ABC picked a few people out of the crowd to get their opinion,” Patterson told Nine’s Today on Thursday.

‘It certainly wasn’t the way the meeting was conducted. It was categorically wrong. The event organizer ran it very well.

“He was very sensitive, he gave each person the opportunity to come up on stage and share their story. The article presented by ABC is factually incorrect.’

He added: “At the end of the day, we had 3,000 people gathered demanding change who are clearly fed up with what’s happening in Alice Springs.”

ABC reporter Carly Williams interviewed a woman who told her: ‘It was really a disgusting white supremacist show… It was very, very disappointing.

It was scary to be in that room.

Another told the show: ‘The tension, violence and anger in the room was palpable.

“Clearly, it was about white supremacy and white safety in this city, and that’s all that was being considered.”

Another described the meeting as “strange” and “dangerous.”

During a live crossover on ABC TV, Williams said “emotional” people were “leaving early and leaving the convention center,” with only one interview in the report.

“It’s a total white supremacist fest there, and I can tell you, it was terrifying,” said the woman interviewed.

Former Alice Springs Mayor Jacinta Price criticized the national broadcaster for its one-sided bias about the meeting hosted by local businessman Garth Thompson.

“They had 3,000 people to choose from and they chose to hear the voices of three bleeding hearts,” the Country Liberal MP told Sky News Australia.

They don’t care about street children. They are completely disconnected from the lives of these children.

“Ultimately, they are the ones creating the problems for these young people.

“They had no right to go in there and accuse everyone of being racist.”

She said the meeting ended early after 20 minutes when it was interrupted by ‘progressives’.

“They wanted to go around calling everyone hicks and Nazis, which is complete nonsense,” he said.

“Local residents, white and indigenous, would turn around and tell them to get the hell out of it, and how dare they bring such nonsense to a community meeting.”

Warren Mundine said he was “shocked” by the ABC report.

“I heard that report and thought these people had gone with the fairies,” he told Sky News Australia.

‘I thought they were going to a different universe, a different dimension from what was happening in that meeting. It’s a shameful report, frankly.

They did not speak to anyone else. They just talked to a handful of people and it looks like some kind of Klu Klux Klan meeting indoors.

“These are decent black and white Australian citizens who were there to solve a lot of problems that are going on in that community.”

Other locals offered different representations of the meeting.

“I’m so proud to see the number of locals giving their time and support to help bring about change,” meetup organizer Garth Thompson posted on Facebook after the event.

“I am proud to be a local here in Alice Springs, the community that came together tonight was a showcase of what is possible in our amazing city.”

2GB presenter Ben Fordham also criticized the national broadcaster on Wednesday.

“Of the thousands of people who attended the meeting, we only heard from one person in that report: a woman who had left early,” he said.

“We don’t hear from terrified locals or concerned moms and dads, we only hear allegations of racism from a woman who left. [of the meeting] – someone who did not represent the entire mood in the room.

And no examples of so-called “white supremacy” were given, no quotes, no images, no audio.

“We didn’t hear from any of the concerned locals, they didn’t play back any of the comments from inside the room, I’m not sure if [she] was inside, that was not clear from his story.

Fordham said that the AM segment was “even worse” than the television report.

“His coverage of the meeting was recklessly and ruthlessly one-sided,” Fordham said.

‘They ignored the issues… And it just became a fight between whites and blacks. AND IF racist comments were made… what were they? And where is the proof?

In response to the outcry, an ABC spokesperson rejected the allegations of bias, saying the broadcaster’s coverage of the issue has reflected diverse perspectives.

“ABC’s long-running reports on the issues facing Alice Springs have included a variety of perspectives and will continue to solicit people’s opinions and experiences as coverage continues,” they said.

“Many strong and conflicting views and opinions are expressed within the community, including some conflicting views, and news coverage reflects that and is not ashamed of it.”

Williams, a Quandamooka First Nations woman, is a journalist with ABC’s audio and news team.

Federal and territorial governments have earmarked cash for additional policing as they consider reintroducing alcohol bans in indigenous communities.

The calls for action come as videos of youth violence surfaced on the city’s streets, with a clip appearing Tuesday of a boy being attacked by other teenagers with an axe.