The ABC's decision to defend airing two controversial tweets about an transgender panellist on Monday's Q&A program is a "dumb act" that makes it difficult to defend the broadcaster against budget cuts, a furious Labor MP says.
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NSW Labor MP Stephen Jones told Fairfax Media the ABC's refusal to admit its mistakes didn't help the brodcaster at such a critical time when it was facing budget cuts.
Catherine McGregor, the world's highest ranking transgender female military official, appeared on Monday's Q&A to discuss the new Iraq mission and gender issues.
A tweet saying "God sets our gender, we shouldn't interfere #qanda" by a now deleted account @secadvisers was broadcast during her live appearance.
Another tweet "Wow, he/she is a hero #QandA" also aired.
Mr Jones said he was a fan of the ABC but its decision to air the tweets was "dumb" and made it harder for supporters of the public broadcaster to defend it against looming budget cuts
"Over the coming months I'll be going into battle to defend the ABC, against cuts to their budget and attacks on their programming," the member for Throsby told Fairfax Media.
"Dumb acts like this don't make it easy."
But an ABC spokesperson said MS McGregor would not want the views that were aired censored.
"Catherine McGregor has told Q&A that she has no concerns about the publication of these tweets and she would not want the ABC to censor the views they expressed," the spokesperson said on Tuesday.
The spokesperson said the tweets were screened in a "multi-stage moderation process" and "met the guidelines" of what was "appropriate for broadcast".
"The tweets are chosen to reflect the diverse range of opinions in the Q&A audience.
"They are not expected to always be in agreement with the views of the panellists, but are expected to fall within our guidelines."
Ms McGregor has published two tweets thanking followers for the positive reaction to her appearance, saying she was "humbled by the generosity of decent majority of people in accepting gender variance".
The ABC's Q&A program is frequently targeted by federal MPs who claim it is biased, however its past critics have almost always been Liberal MPs, many of whom want the national broadcaster's funding cut.
Tony Abbott pledged there would no cuts to the ABC's budget the night before he was elected Prime Minister last year, however the government announced an efficiency dividend and the axing of the Australia Network in the May budget and said they were a "downpayment" on further savings.
The ABC's managing director Mark Scott has warned major budget cuts to the ABC will force the broadcaster to dramatically cut television and radio to pay for its growth in digital services. In a speech in Melbourne on Monday night, Mr Scott said public affection for the ABC was lasting, while governments come and go.
