Stan Grant: Why ABC viewers threatened to switch channels during King Charles’ Coronation coverage

ABC viewers threatened to change channels during the “bullshit” coverage of the coronation because of a panel discussion about King Charles and the monarchy.

The hour-long program entitled The Coronation: A discussion about the Monarchy in 2023 focused on the monarch’s relevance to Australia.

Subsequently, ABC’s Q+A host Stan Grant said that the 1788 British invasion was the beginning of suffering for indigenous peoples.

The feature film, which aired on the Saturday before the coronation, proved so polarizing that the journalist’s name went viral online during the episode.

“The Crown for us is not above politics, because the symbol of that Crown was: it represented the invasion, the theft of land and in our case the war of extermination that will be 200 years next year,” Grant said.

“In the name of that crown martial law was declared against my people, the Wurundjeri people, next year will be the 200th anniversary of martial law.

“A war that was reported at the time as a war of extermination… We need to understand what this means.”

On an ABC show, Q+A host Stan Grant (pictured) said the 1788 British invasion was the beginning of suffering for indigenous peoples

Grant said that because of Australia’s history of British invasion, Indigenous Australians would see the coronation as a continuation of the damage caused by colonialism.

“It (the ceremony) weighs heavily on First Nations people, because that crown weighs heavily on us, and we’re still dealing with that,” he said.

The program also discussed whether Australia should become a republic, with Australian Republic Movement head Craig Foster expressing support for a future referendum that would remove King Charles as Australia’s head of state.

“It doesn’t represent us culturally, it doesn’t work for us, it doesn’t work for us internationally, so many of our dutiful international multicultural communities have suffered from this exact colonization process and things like that, and are deeply uncomfortable as well,” he said.

“We also have a right to envision a brighter future where Australians own our own country, and we see this conversation often.”

On Twitter, viewers wondered if the historic event was the right time to start discussions about Australia becoming a republic, with some threatening to change channels.

“I didn’t tune into the coverage of the coronation to get to Stan Grant and Co. to go pro-republic,” one Twitter user wrote.

“Began watching the @abcnews coverage of the coronation. They spent ages with Nova Peris and Stan Grant talking about colonialism and racism. Had to switch to @9NewsAUS coverage.

“A little bit of that republican bullshit, but way better,” another user tweeted.

Others shared their appreciation for the coverage and the differing opinions shared during the coronation.

“Holy s***, this was not what I expected from ABC’s coverage of the coronation – Stan Grant and Craig Foster go absolutely OUT on the monarchy and empire and its legacy of genocide and pain,” one Twitter user wrote .

“It was an impressive and mature discussion, something we can’t get enough of from the media. I am very impressed, even though Stan generally annoys me as a commentator,” wrote another.

“Stan Grant rips the crown, and it’s awesome,” another user tweeted.

In the wake of Queen Elizabeth’s death, Grant expressed anger at the ABC’s continued coverage of the monarch’s reign, saying he felt “betrayed” by his employer.

“When the Queen died, I didn’t expect the reaction I would get, which was deep-seated anger. How dare you? How dare the queen die and make this land mourn?’ he told Patricia Karvelas on ABC Radio National.

‘And I felt in my own organization, I’m very honest about that in (my) book, a sense of betrayal.

Australian Republic Movement co-chairs Craig Foster (left) and Nova Peris (right)

“Because the ABC put everyone in black suits, everyone took a deferential tone, we know that the prime minister said, ‘This is not the time to talk about empire and colonization, this is not the time to talk about the republic.'”

On Saturday morning, the day of the coronation, Grant also wrote a brutal protest against celebrating the event.

‘Don’t you dare think too much about this. Because then this illusion will shatter. We should think of the coronation decorations and the crown of stolen jewels,” he wrote.

“To take this coronation seriously would mean trying to understand that an Australian prime minister swore allegiance to a Crown that tried to wipe out my people.”