The ABC leaves ACON

And I'm taking a holiday!

Flicking through X on the morning of April 8, 2026, I saw a post from my friend Kit Kowalski that The ABC had resigned its membership of ACON’s Pride in Diversity Program. I thought this must be a joke.

As subscribers know, the ABC-ACON divorce is something I’ve been working on for a year. The research on bias took months, the petitions were tedious and the back and forth with the ABC Board was a drain.

Among other things, Pride in Diversity is a LGBTQA advocacy scheme that researched proved influenced news reporting and ABC content. ABC Queer was a transgender initiative with specific content for under 18’s. A parent’s nightmare.

Communication Minister Anika Wells had another five weeks to respond to the petition I launched in October 2025. I didn’t expect an outcome until late May.

My direct communication with ABC Board Charman Kim Williams had finished with … “A common landing may prove to be elusive in this territory.” I wasn’t feeling confident.

I like Kit, but gee, this was taking a late April Fool’s joke too far. She had mentioned others in her tweet who would also have been very pissed off. Some jokes aren’t funny Kit!

Before sending some friendly abuse, I checked my news feed. And there it was. It was true.

Now there’s been many individuals and groups working with the same aim. None of us can claim central boasting rights, but all of us can feel bloody good!

Kit Kowalski herself, Stassja Frei, Kurt Mahlburg from the Daily Declaration, Nerissa Scott, Nicole Phillips, Tess Hackett, WomensCooee.org, the Women’s Advocacy Network, The Women’s Media Network, Sall Grover, Paul Barry, all the TERFS out there (God Bless You), Senator Clair Chandler, John Ruddick, Jillian Spencer, William Staddon, Angie Jones, Women’s Forum Australia, Edie Wyatt, Celine Baumgarten & Kirralie Smith.

An incomplete list for sure and I apologise for any individual or group I’ve forgotten. Yes, there were others desperately wanting the ABC/ACON split and most Australians would have been horrified had they known about the relationship.

Many readers and listeners of Philtered also urged the government to guide the divorce. Thank you. Signatories to the Declaration of Biological Truth Australia sent hundreds if not thousands of emails to the Minister. Thank you too.

There’s others I’ll add once they contact me and abuse me for not including them.

Mainstream Journalists?

As far mainstream journalists go, the Australian’s Stephen Rice and Rachel Baxendale joined the battle in December 2025. Sky News then jumped aboard and interviewed its favourites. All good stuff.

However, both The Aus and Sky can’t claim hero status. Those journalists are simply doing the job they are paid to do. The story should have been in all Australian media for years.

It wasn’t a talkfest that forced the change, but grassroots action aimed at more than the converted. Your action.

All of the names mentioned before worked hard on this with no payment and for years before the Australian or Sky jumped on the story.

Special mention to …

Kit Kowalski deserves much credit for launching ACON Exposed back in early 2022. Paul Barry from Media Watch was the first to disclose the problem (in mainstream media) in October 2022. For him, stating truth was more important than keeping his ABC job. Good on you Paul.

Stassja Frei then flagged this unholy alliance in her Desexing Society episode of June 2025. A Spotify link is below yet it’s available on all podcast platforms.

In July 2025, Kurt Mahlburg and The Daily Declaration went out of their way to inform their readers about the ABC/ACON alliance when others wouldn’t.

The Philtered Mini 12-minute episode from November 2025 was created for busy politicians who don’t have time for a one-hour listen. It was released to accompany the research, petitions, ABC Board discussions and email campaigns. The Spotify link is below yet its on other podcast platforms as well.

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Talk is talk, but this result shows that public action with a specific aim in mind can get results. Action indeed speaks louder than words. Thank you everyone.