ABC News Breakfast host Michael Rowland announces he’s ‘taking a break’ after Stan Grant quit Q+A
Shock as ABC News Breakfast host suddenly announces he’s “taking a break” from the TV show after cracking down on his own network for how he handled Stan Grant’s trolling ordeal
ABC News Breakfast host Michael Rowland has announced that he will one day be “taking a break” after criticizing Public Broadcasting for Stan Grant’s failure.
Rowland made the announcement live on air, telling viewers that he was “on a break” and that it had been “a real honour”.
He followed this up with an announcement on Twitter at the end of the breakfast program on Wednesday, saying, “Take care and see you soon.”
Rowland earlier this week urged the public service broadcaster to be faster and more effective in denouncing racism following Grant’s departure from Q+A.
ABC News Breakfast host Michael Rowland announced today that he will be taking a break from the show – a day after criticizing the national broadcaster for the failure of the Stan Grant affair
Rowland tweeted Wednesday morning (pictured) that he would be ‘taking a break’
Grant announced last Friday that he was taking an indefinite hiatus from hosting Q+A after being bombarded with “racial smut” on social media.
Rowland said on Tuesday: “It’s not just been weeks and months, it’s been years for Stan to cope with this. Racism is a plague.
“We all need to do better and so does the ABC to call it out and call it out faster than in this country,” he said.
Mr Rowland’s comments followed an appearance on the program by First Nations Foundation President Ian Hamm.
“Stan does his job very well. I think he took on the role of poking Australia’s bear where it’s awkward from time to time,” Hamm said.
‘There is a risk in that. The backlash from those who don’t like it and who might want Aboriginal people to be more accommodating and nicer.’
Stan Grant said during his last Q+A ‘for a while’ that he felt like he was part of the problem and wanted to take a break to think about how he could do better
He added, “Stan isn’t running away. He’s just taking a break, as everyone should in this situation.”
Mr Hamm said this year in particular, with Australians voting for an Indigenous vote in parliament in November, continued tensions would arise.
“Australia has race relations issues and all it takes is to scratch the surface and some very unpleasant sores can be exposed.”
“I have great hopes for my country, but I am also realistic enough to know that this is not an easy journey.
“He’s not alone and the rest of us are behind him and like him, we’re not running away. And we intend to pursue the right place for our people in this country.”
Rowland’s announcement this morning prompted another ABC reporter to respond, “Hope you’re OK.”