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A petition challenges the ABC’s ties to ACON, arguing divided loyalties compromise impartial journalism and breach the broadcaster’s charter as Parliament considers the issue on 9 February.

“No one can serve two masters.
Either you will hate the one and love the other,
or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”
— Matthew 6:24

Today, 9 February 2026, an important petition will go before the House of Representatives in Canberra. The petition bears a simple yet confusing name – ‘ABC out of ACON’.

The ABC is our national broadcaster, a taxpayer-funded service with a great reputation and one full of talented people.

What Is ACON and Why It Matters

ACON stand for the Aids Council of NSW, another taxpayer-funded organisation that did fantastic public awareness work during the ’80s AIDS crisis.

While still providing LGB (lesbian, gay and bisexual) health services, ACON has morphed to be a major flag-waver for the transgender community – the TQA part of the rainbow alliance.

So serious are they in promoting gender identity that an entire PRIDE division has been established to instil it into sports clubs, health organisations and HR departments nationally.

If you see males competing against women at a sports event, know that the ACON Pride in Sport program has done its work – usually through costly ‘Diversity’ training sessions delivering LGBTQ+ ideology.

When visiting a health service and asked how you ‘identify’, know for sure that ACON has called. As a 69-year-old male, I was asked recently before an MRI if I was pregnant or breastfeeding. It was laughable.

And if your workplace has replaced its Male and Female bathrooms with non-gendered facilities and insists staff use ‘preferred pronouns’, know for sure that your workplace has drunk the ACON Pride in Diversity Kool Aid.

How Membership Influences ABC News

For following the ACON playbook, member organisations are given special ‘practice points’, a bit like a star-chart at school. Good behaviour, like granting confused staff extra ‘transgender leave’, gets lots of points. Excellent work!

Average behaviour, like allowing staff to wear rainbow lanyards, gets a few points. Good, but could try harder.

These points are added up each year and ‘Diversity Awards’ are bestowed on the winners at gala dinner events – usually hosted (at no cost to ACON) by ABC presenters.

Past celebrated winners include Murat Dizdar from the NSW Department of Education, the Department of Health Victoria and our beloved ABC.

BUT…

If a member is naughty and a playbook rule broken, they can lose up to 20 points – the equivalent of being sent to the headmaster! An example would be forbidding staff from using preferred pronouns in their emails.

Now, all this seems harmless. After all, no one forces these organisations to be ACON members and follow the rules. They do it because they believe in gender ideology, love earning points and being celebrated.

It may even help them get customers. AbbVie, one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of puberty blockers and hormones for trans folk, is a Silver Tier Member. Great marketing, AbbVie!

What is not harmless is the ABC’s membership of ACON, a membership that most probably influences their content and news reporting. Having a news piece questioning transgender ideology and stating biological truth could lose them all the points they’ve won in a year!

Two research studies in 2025 found that ABC NEWS was heavily biased in favour of transgender beliefs. It was particularly noticeable in their selection of news on the topic.

News critical of transgender ideas was ignored while opinion stories consistent with the playbook were depicted as news. Objectivity and balance were kicked to the kerb.

The Case for Impartiality and Reform

With their strong ACON alliance, the ABC, and especially their NEWS Division, cannot possibly abide by the ABC Charter, which states:

“It is the duty of the Board to ensure the gathering and presentation of news and information is accurate and impartial according to the recognised standards of objective journalism.”

These ‘recognised standards’ include telling both sides of a story if two exist. Two certainly exist when it comes to puberty blockers for children or biological men playing in women’s sports.

It also means not being influenced by outside entities like ACON. The ABC code of conduct clearly states:

“The ABC will gather and present news and information with due impartiality.”

Quite possibly, the ABC is in breach of its own code of conduct and charter.  They are trying to serve the needs of two conflicting masters.  The Australian taxpayers’ need for unbiased, objective journalism, and ACON’s need for positive transgender promotion.

In my direct communication with ABC Board Chairman Kim Williams, he stated: “I sense a common landing may prove to be elusive in this territory.”

The ABC Board and Editorial Director Gavin Fang have failed to grasp a major point. It’s not simply that news must be unbiased, but that it must be SEEN to be unbiased. The fact that our national broadcaster pays fees to, and receives rewards from ACON, makes us question what we see.

Trans ideology and its controversial practices are increasingly labelled as unsafe and lacking evidence by medical professionals worldwide.

CatholicCare does a great job, as does the Smith Family or Lifeline Australia. The ABC could align with any one of hundreds of organisations that won’t influence, or be seen to influence, content or news reporting.

So, what did Jesus say about divided loyalties? Basically, a choice must be made between truth and the conflicting path. The ABC has made their choice. Sensible politicians must force a change.

The petition to remove the ABC from ACON goes before Parliament today.

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Image courtesy of The Saltbush Club.