Labor has asked the federal government to consider removing Warren Mundine from the SBS board after he called the journalist Ben Eltham a “cunt” on Twitter.
The SBS board asked Mundine to delete the tweet, which was posted on Tuesday in response to Eltham tweeting what he claimed was the mobile phone number of the MP Craig Kelly, and Mundine did so. SBS said Mundine’s tweet was in breach of the board’s code of conduct and did not align with the broadcaster’s values.
Mundine has apologised for the tweet, the Sydney Morning Herald reported, and said he was taking a “social media holiday” for a couple of weeks. Guardian Australia has contacted him for further comment.
Eltham’s tweet was in response to spam messages sent by Kelly’s United Australia Party. Mundine told the Herald he accepted he should not have used the word he did, but stood by his criticism of Eltham for sharing Kelly’s number, which he described as “dangerous”.
The Morrison government handpicked the unsuccessful Liberal candidate to sit on the SBS board for five years, overlooking the recommendations of the independent nominations panel.
After he was appointed last year, Mundine called the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, “a complete asshole”, a “fool” and a “complete f**kwit”. Mundine was responding to comments Trudeau made about the limits of free speech after a teacher in France was beheaded by a terrorist for showing cartoon caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad during a class discussion.
An SBS spokesperson said: “The comment made by Mr Mundine is not in line with the values of SBS, does not adhere to our policies, and is not consistent with the expectations which apply to our staff or those we work with.
“The SBS Board are expected to behave in accordance with the SBS Code of Conduct and Mr Mundine has been reminded of his obligations as an SBS Board member, and has since deleted the tweet.”
Labor’s communications spokeswoman, Michelle Rowland, has written to the communications minister, Paul Fletcher, to ask why Mundine should not be removed by the governor-general for misbehaviour under the SBS Act.
“Please confirm whether you, as the responsible minister, are satisfied that the performance of Mr Mundine meets the high standards expected of SBS board members,” Rowland said in a letter seen by Guardian Australia.
“Specifically I refer to conduct by Mr Mundine on Twitter that may bring SBS into disrepute and seek your explanation as to why he shouldn’t be removed by the governor-general for misbehaviour in accordance with … the SBS Act,”
“It is a duty of the SBS Board to maintain the independence and integrity of the SBS.
Huge disparity between the professional expectations on me when I worked at SBS and those on current board member Warren Mundine, that latest tweet, wow
— Benjamin Cooper (@coopsyb) August 31, 2021
“Mr Mundine was not recommended by nomination panel for SBS Board appointments but was selected by the Minister directly … in a process that required candidates to possess high-level judgment and the highest standards of professional and personal integrity.”
Fletcher said Mundine was a distinguished Australian and an advocate for Indigenous people when appointing him as a non-executive director of the multicultural public broadcaster on 31 October last year.
A spokesman for Fletcher said the minister had no comment.
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