ABC Breakfast co-host Lisa Millar says all think tanks need to be questioned, and for that reason still welcomes the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) on the ABC News Breakfast couch “every six weeks” or so.
When Millar took over co-hosting ABC News Breakfast in 2019, after a decade as a foreign correspondent covering the US and UK, she felt like she was “starting with a blank page” and had to familiarise herself with Australian think tanks and their agendas.
“So many of the think tanks like to say that they’re independent and non-aligned and non-partisan and all the rest of it, but really all of them have some kind of agenda,” Millar says.
With three hours of live television to fill every morning, dozens of topics and a run sheet overflowing with guests, Millar says she needs to rely on her producers and her own general research about issues. After many years as a foreign correspondent for the ABC, that has been a steep learning curve getting to grips with Australian politics and debates.
“What I do beforehand, whoever it might be coming on, I make sure I’m knowledgeable about where they’re coming from on a particular subject and a particular area and that I have counterpoints to be able to play devil’s advocate to whatever they are putting forward,” Ms Millar says.
“Whether it’s an agenda for democracy or an agenda for liberalism or an agenda to increase our footprint in Asia-Pacific, they all have a reason for being, so it’s understanding that before you wade into an interview would be the most important thing.”
Millar says one clear issue for Australian think tanks, like others in the US, is their funders.
“Sometimes you only have to look at the kinds of members they have, ex-politicians, ex-media, Gina Rinehart – a lifetime donor of IPA,” Millar says.
Think tank staffer being interviewed.
Lisa Millar says a big problem with think tanks in Australia is understanding who is funding them. (PEXELS)
The Institute of Public Affairs, which recently caused an online furore after an appearance on ABC Breakfast, is a libertarian free-market think tank that has a secret donor list known to have previously included Ms Rinehart, Rupert Murdoch and big tobacco.
While the output of other think tanks like the Lowy and Grattan Institutes often comes in the form of academic reports, others have sought to match the speed of social media and the 24-hour news cycle, The Australian Institute of International Affairs says.
With podcasts, polls and now videos, the IPA appears to be one of these and their content has recently been making waves.
In March Media Watch host Paul Barry said the IPA, a longtime critic of the ABC, could “not be trusted” after using a misleading question in a poll that found a third of “ordinary Australians” think the ABC is “out of touch”.
And later that same month an in-house video, in which policy director Gideon Rozner calls for the end of the COVID-19 lockdown, went viral, was discussed on mainstream media and was widely criticised.
It’s received nearly 500,000 views.
📺 NEW VIDEO: @GideonCRozner explains why the efforts by state and federal governments to control the health crisis created by the #covid19au outbreak risks creating as much bigger economic and humanitarian crisis. We must begin to end this lockdown now. pic.twitter.com/5q3gXzgZuP
— Institute of Public Affairs (@TheIPA) April 3, 2020
Millar has no problem with the IPA continuing to appear on ABC Breakfast.
“I think we’re better off having them out in the open challenging them rather than them finding their home away from transparency on the internet where they’re not challenged by anyone because they’re followed and slathered after by their supporters,” Millar says.
The morning of our interview IPA director of research Daniel Wild is a guest on News Breakfast and Millar’s co-host Michael Rowland asks him whether people should be listening to, “the experts or the IPA?”.
Mr Wild says there is “not a monopoly on experts, there’s a range of views”.
Millar says she would have pushed Mr Wild harder than her co-host.
“I would’ve said have you really not had a second thought about this? Are you really sticking with this video last weekend that has been roundly criticised from almost all sides of politics?,” Millar says.
“And clearly they would’ve said, well, no, they’re sticking with it because clearly that was their view.”
The show received a stream of angry tweets from viewers after the interview for having Wild on.
Thanks for all the feedback on our chat with Daniel Wild from @TheIPA this morning. It’s our role at the ABC to accommodate, and test, all viewpoints in Australian society, not just from one side of the spectrum. Thanks for watching! @BreakfastNews @abcnews #yourAbc pic.twitter.com/t17ovDDskN
— Michael Rowland (@mjrowland68) April 13, 2020
“We get accused of bias all the time from all sides because people come into discussions with a very firm view of what they believe is right and it is their view, and that polarisation has become just so much fiercer over the last couple of years,” Millar says.
“But are we going to stop having the IPA on because people are offended by their views? No.”
(Featured Image: ABC).
