The ABC has been forced to defend a six-minute hijab fashion show planned for its on-demand streaming service iView after conservative politicians and commentators again began to complain about the show and its host, Yassmin Abdel-Magied.
This week, Abdel-Magied revealed on Twitter that she would be part of an ABC iView show about hijab fashion airing on 1 May.
Catch me on @ABCiview on 1st May for the show on Australia’s Hijabi Fashion Scene - #HIJABISTAS! #auspol
And The Australian newspaper, which ran a lengthy campaign against Abdel-Magied the last time she had anything to do the public broadcaster, was quick to jump on it with comments from conservative politicians about how it was such a bad idea, with Australian Conservatives senator Cory Bernardi saying that the ABC "needed to be reformed".
Then, in a Senate Estimates hearing on Wednesday morning, conservative Liberal senator Eric Abetz grilled ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie about the program and its associated costs (while looking like the dad who is checking in on you from his overseas holiday).
"Why do we think that this is such a good, artistic show to comment or to promote the hijab when literally hundreds of thousands of women are facing arrest, imprisonment, separation from their families because they are seeking to rid themselves of this symbol of oppression from countries like Iran, and here we are seeking to celebrate this garment at taxpayers' expense?" Abetz asked.
Guthrie replied that it wasn't a news program.
"Senator, it's a fashion program. It's not for news... It is a program that is intended to show the hijab as part of a fashion program. It is not intended to be any political statement at all," she said. "It is simply intended to be a reflection of arts programming the ABC has commissioned."
Abetz suggested women in Iran would be "very disappointed" to see a program where Western women were celebrating "this oppressive item of clothing".
Abdel-Magied addressed this point on Twitter.
I love when ppl see things like this then point to unrelated things happening to Muslim women in other countries, as if they actually cared. With that logic, every time there is a Top Gear show, I’d say ‘but what about Harvey Weinstein?’ Doesn’t make sense? Exactly, son. https://t.co/ha3UGZLski
So here we go again.
When Abdel-Magied made a quickly deleted seven-word Facebook post about Anzac Day last year, news media (mainly News Corp) wrote at least 64,000 words in just over two weeks on the topic.
It's still a few weeks until the show airs, and there will be more estimates hearings again in May, so it's unlikely this one will go away any time soon.