“Fresh Embarrassment For ABC?” Charlie Pickering Weighs In As Grace Tame Backlash Intensifies
‘Problematic’: ABC star Charlie Pickering calls out ABC over launch of new podcast with Grace Tame
A leading ABC star has broken ranks with his own employer over the broadcaster’s new podcast launched by former Australian of the Year Grace Tame.
ABC star Charlie Pickering called a new podcast launched by the national broadcaster and former Australian of the Year Grace Tame “problematic.”
The four-part series called Autistic AF delves into Ms Tame’s experiences of being an autistic woman and includes interviews with experts and other women.
The podcast was slammed by critics, who accused the national broadcaster of being “tone-deaf” after Ms Tame faced recent controversies about her attendance at a pro Palestine rally where she was filmed chanting “globalise the intifada”.
“I do actually think it’s problematic, that’s my personal opinion,” Mr Pickering told Rebel News, in a video posted to their Instagram.
“As you would understand, and as a Jewish Australian, there is a complete misunderstanding of a lot of the words that are said and what the true meaning of them are.
“A lot of people are using words and phrases that have meaning well beyond what they think they do.”
Mr Pickering said many people jumped on protest bandwagons and were ignorant a lot of the time, but clarified he was not referring to that particular protest or Ms Tame.
Australian Jewish Association chief executive Robert Gregory criticised the ABC for hiring Ms Tame after recent controversies that have plagued the child sexual abuse advocate.
“Not long after the Bondi attack, Grace Tame publicly called to ‘globalise the intifada’. The intifada was a period of bloody terrorist attacks against Jewish civilians in Israel,” he said.
“Just months ago, Tame dismissed reports of sexual violence committed against Israeli women on October 7 as ‘propaganda’ and falsely claimed they had been ‘debunked’ despite extensive evidence and investigations documenting those crimes.
“Tame was condemned across the political spectrum and has publicly complained about difficulties obtaining speaking engagements following her comments, but it appears that nothing is too outrageous for the ABC.
“This decision demonstrates a profound lack of judgment and a disregard for the concerns of many Australians, particularly within the Jewish community.”
The podcast was launched months after Ms Tame lost speaking gigs around the nation in what she described as an “ongoing national smear campaign”.
Ms Tame made headlines this year when she was filmed chanting “globalise the intifada” at a pro Palestine rally and was labelled “difficult” by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The Australian Jewish Association requested that Ms Tame be removed as guest speaker at a Bendigo Women’s Day breakfast.
She defended her actions in an interview with ABC radio host Hamish McDonald, saying she was a human-rights activist who advocated for the safety of all human beings, no matter their background.
But she was criticised by the National Council of Jewish Women Australia when she claimed allegations that Israeli women had faced sexual violence during the Hamas attack in October 2023 were false.
“Those things have been debunked … violence is happening on both sides. But this is not a fair fight. We’re not talking about two equal cohorts, even marginally,” she told McDonald.
The council responded by saying Tame’s comments were “a complete wilful distortion of facts”.
“We cannot comprehend why somebody who claims to fight for the victims of sexual abuse makes such an exception when those victims are Jews,” it said in a statement.
Away from the controversy, Ms Tame said she wanted the podcast to explore how autism in women was markedly different and give women with autism a voice.
“Usually, I’m the person being interrogated, not that there was any interrogation going on here,” she told ABC Perth.
“It was a very gentle, explorative process, but I really loved listening to the expertise and lived experience of women who are autistic and who have dedicated their lives to understanding different brains.”
Ms Tame was diagnosed with autism at 19 and said it could be confronting. She said it was common for women to be diagnosed later in life because they tended to be better at masking and internalising their needs over others.
She said when a person went for such a long time without their needs being met it could accumulate into stress, health issues and mental illness.
“It’s really sad when you finally get a diagnosis and realise, well, if I had been diagnosed much earlier in my life, like boys are usually diagnosed in primary school,” she said.
“If I had been diagnosed much earlier in my life, perhaps I wouldn’t have gone down this path of, you know, being misdiagnosed or just not meeting needs that really needed to be met.”
Ms Tame said after her own diagnosis a lot of things in her life made sense.
“I was pretty reticent to take on board any other kind of label or identifying marker, I suppose, because I was still reeling from fresh trauma, and then I just needed a little bit of space,” she told ABC Perth.
“But it certainly did re-contextualise a lot of things and filled in missing links, and looking through that lens, I felt incredibly validated when I finally got around to actually consider consuming the resources there and getting tailored supports.”
Hanson wants to scrap $1.3 billion funding to ABC ‘w**kers’
Hanson renews ABC threat, vows to cut funding and push subscription model
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has renewed calls to strip most public funding from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, saying the national broadcaster has “failed its bias test yet again” and should move towards a subscription-based model.
In a post on X that has reignited debate around the future of public broadcasting in Australia, Hanson criticised ABC chair Kim Williams and outlined a proposal that would preserve some regional services while placing greater pressure on metropolitan news operations.
“The ABC has failed its bias test yet again, as chair Kim Williams is caught taking another swipe at One Nation,” Hanson said.
“I would pull the $1.3 billion in ABC funding, and turn them into a subscription.
“The regional places like radio that do a good job can stay but all the ABC “journalists” in the capital city will have to prove the Australian people want them.”
The comments come as questions continue around the role of taxpayer-funded media, editorial independence and audience trust in Australia’s changing media environment.
Federal budget papers show the ABC is expected to receive about $1.229 billion in government funding for 2025–26, with total expenses forecast at more than $1.3 billion. Employee costs account for a large portion of the broadcaster’s spending, while staffing remains heavily concentrated in New South Wales and Victoria, where many of the ABC’s major television, radio and digital operations are based.
“I would pull the $1.3 billion in ABC funding, and turn them into a subscription. The regional places like radio that do a good job can stay but all the ABC “journalists” in the capital city will have to prove the Australian people want them.”
ABC workforce figures published last year recorded more than 4,600 non-casual employees nationally. Nearly half were located in New South Wales, with Victoria accounting for a further 17.5 per cent.
Sydney and Melbourne remain the centre of many national news and production teams. Hanson’s proposal would therefore place the sharpest focus on metropolitan editorial operations if pursued politically.
One Nation has criticised the ABC for years over what it describes as political bias within publicly funded media. Hanson’s latest comments suggest the party is continuing to push for structural reform in the media space.
Supporters of the approach argue taxpayers should not be required to fund media organisations they believe lack neutrality. Critics argue reducing ABC funding could weaken public interest journalism, emergency broadcasting capacity and national coverage outside commercial priorities.
The ABC continues to play a major role across television, radio, online reporting and regional broadcasting. Its charter requires it to provide services that contribute to a sense of national identity while reflecting the diversity of the Australian community.
Any shift towards a subscription-based structure would likely require legislative changes, operational restructuring and decisions about which services remain publicly funded. Regional radio, which Hanson singled out for protection, has long been viewed as one of the broadcaster’s strongest public service functions, particularly during bushfires, floods and other emergencies.
The debate also arrives as Australian media companies continue adapting to falling traditional advertising revenue, audience fragmentation and growing competition from international digital platforms, podcasts, streaming services and subscription news outlets.
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