Channel Nine has defended its decision to air footage of One Nation candidate for Queensland Steve Dickson at a US strip club as being in the public interest.
Dickson resigned on Tuesday morning after the footage was released on Monday evening’s episode of ‘A Current Affair’.
The former Leader of One Nation in Queensland can be seen asking a performer to “slide your hand onto my cock” and later tells a compatriot “I think white women fuck a whole lot better, they know what they’re doing. Asian chicks don’t.”
A spokesman for Channel Nine told PEDESTRIAN.TV the footage had been leaked to the network.
“We stand by the story and Mr Dickson’s resignation this morning highlights the public interest in broadcasting the footage,” they said.
Al Jazeera, the Qatari media company that originally shot the footage during undercover investigation into One Nation’s dealings with the NRA, condemned the use of the material.
Plot twist – Al Jazeera says the vision of Steve Dickson in the US strip club was broadcast by the Nine Network without its consent.
Statement below @politicsabc @abcnews #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/gR5XtLa5nY
— Matthew Doran (@MattDoran91) April 30, 2019
“A decision was made by Al Jazeera not to broadcast it as part of the investigation,” said a statement. “The investigation exposed attempts by members of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party to obtain political donations in return for loosening Australia’s strict gun laws.”
“Al Jazeera did not consider it in the public interest to broadcast the material.”
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson told media on Tuesday morning that Dickson was “a family man.”
“I wouldn’t tolerate my own children behaving this way towards women and I cannot and will not condone my own candidates dealing with women in this fashion either.
“I am aware that strip clubs are a perfectly legal business and that many men in this country have visited one, just like women hire strippers for hens nights.”
“But Steve’s language and behaviour was unacceptable and does not meet my expectations nor the greater public’s expectations of a person who is standing for public office.”
