ABC to demand One Nation remove Bluey cartoon; party defends satire, colouring book also criticised

Centre · 1Australia's national broadcaster, the ABC, said on Tuesday 27 October that it would demand One Nation remove a violent political cartoon featuring the children's character Bluey. 1 Centre · 1ABC Managing Director Hugh Marks told a Senate estimates hearing the broadcaster had sought legal advice after learning of the video last week and would send a cease-and-desist letter, calling the animation "a shocking use of Australia's most loved character" and "disrespectful to the children of Australia". 1 Centre · 1Marks said One Nation had not sought permission, that the video was not a parody of any Bluey work and that he considered it an infringement of intellectual property; he said the letter would demand removal and the ABC could also seek damages. 1

Centre · 1The three-minute cartoon, The State of Melbourne, was released in 2024 as part of Pauline Hanson's animated Please Explain series. It shows caricatures of former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in an SUV that hits Bluey and Robert Irwin, and Bluey later driving into cartoon versions of the three in revenge. It has more than 1.3 million views and was still on YouTube on Tuesday, according to Anadolu Agency. 1 Centre · 1The ABC has also contacted Bluey's international distributor, BBC Studios, and the Brisbane-based producer Ludo Studio. 1 Centre · 1Labor Senator Varun Ghosh called the use of Bluey "heinous" given the recent alleged attack on independent MP Helen Haines, who was struck by a vehicle outside her electoral office on 19 October and lost both legs. One Nation's Barnaby Joyce defended the cartoons as satire, saying "You get to a point where you are sanitizing beyond satire". 1

Left · 1Separately, ABC News reported that One Nation handed out a colouring book based on Please Explain at its booth at the Mount Gambier show. It appears to show a crocodile with a knife robbing figures resembling Robert Irwin and Bluey, and Chris Bowen turned into a cyborg, with Adam Bandt, Anthony Albanese and Hanson also depicted. 2 Left · 1A One Nation spokesperson said the party was happy to hear complaints but that the series and its merchandise were political satire. The book's back page says it was authorised by Hanson. 2 Left · 1Local mother Elisabeth Champion said her children, aged five and seven, were offered the books and that the images would be distressing to Bluey fans; she said the Australian Electoral Commission and Ad Standards told her they did not deal with political advertising of this kind. 2

Left · 1University of Melbourne political communication professor Andrea Carson said the book was not "ideal consumption" for children, was designed to get people talking ahead of the Victorian election, and did little to cool political debate after the Haines attack. One Nation MP Jason Virgo, who visited the booth, said he made no comment on the content. 2