ABC and Guardian condemn One Nation's media ban as democratic threat

In a democracy, the press conference is one of the few remaining spaces where power must answer to the public. Australia's One Nation party has begun closing that space selectively — ejecting ABC and Guardian journalists from events while welcoming aligned outlets, a pattern that press freedom advocates say is less about fairness than about controlling what voters are permitted to know. The exclusions, unfolding since August across multiple states, coincide with a Victorian leader's admission of illegal drug use and drink driving — the very kind of disclosure that independent scrutiny exists t