The ABC has admitted it manipulated footage from a naval event to make it appear like the Governor-General and other dignitaries were watching a sexually explicit performance, after the dance group publicly accused the broadcaster of being “creepy and exploitative”.

The performance from 101 Doll Squadron at the commissioning of HMAS Supply on Wednesday shocked the nation , thanks mainly to the footage aired by ABC, showing dancers ‘twerking’ before cutting to the crowd.

The original editing by the ABC, which has since been re-edited.

The dance troupe on Thursday took aim at the ABC for its “creepy” filming and editing, saying they were made to feel exploited and unsafe.

They accused the film crew of sexualising the performers for “their own gratification”.

They said their performance was filmed from angles the audience couldn’t see, and the editing made it deliberately look like they were performing to guests who, in actuality, hadn’t yet arrived.

“The 101 Doll Squadron members have been under personal attack on all media platforms since the weekend and we now feel unsafe. The media which purports to support women have been the most virulent,” the group said in a statement to media.

“We are very disappointed at the ABC’s deceptive editing of their video piece…These are the images appearing in the media and the ABC have a lot to answer for in making us feel threatened and exploited.”

The national broadcaster quickly followed the statement on Thursday, issuing a clarification.

“ABC News published a video attached to a story concerning a dance performance at a commissioning ceremony for the HMAS Supply in Sydney. The video included vision of the Governor-General and Chief of Navy. The ABC has since confirmed both men arrived minutes after the dance performance finished. The video has been updated to reflect this. ”

The ABC also issued a statement, in which it apologised to the Governor-General and Chief of Navy – but not the 101 Dolls Squadron.

“The video should not have been edited in that way and the ABC apologises to the governor-general and the chief of navy, and to viewers, for this error,” the statement said.

Governor-General David Hurley said the ABC’s behaviour was “disappointing”, as his office confirmed he and Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Michael Noonan arrived after the performance.

“The presentation of the video to suggest otherwise was disappointing,” a statement from the Governor-General said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the ABC should be reflecting on its actions.

“…it is clear much of the reporting that we have seen of that matter that has been provided to Australians, in this case by the ABC, was wrong, was false and was misleading,” Mr Morrison said at a press conference in Perth on Thursday.

“I think that is very disappointing.”

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A video from the 1980s has those living through the eastern states’ current mouse plague twitchy about the 2021 pest invasion worsening if weather conditions continue.

John Goldsmith was a cropping farmer at Mullaley in north-west New South Wales during the “worst plague” he had ever endured, in 1984.

It was so bad the locals even renamed the road, connecting Mullaley and nearby Gunnedah, to the “felt highway”.

“The mice were incredible,” Mr Goldsmith said.

Mr Goldsmith recalls hearing ‘yells and cooees’ in the distance while filming the news story. Photo: ABC/Channel 9/John Goldsmith

“They’d get in silos and storage and just make a mess of it, eat it. [They] would literally clean up ahead of the header.

“We’d go to bed at night and put a mouse trap in the kitchen, and you’d wake up with probably three or four mice dead in the one trap!

“The smell through the house was absolutely foul; it was a time you’d want to forget.”

But those memories have stayed with the now-retired farmer who restored the 1984 Channel Nine news clip and shared it to the Facebook page of his video restoration business.

At the time, Mr Goldsmith sought publicity from the media in the hopes of putting pressure on government to help the situation, but never did he think the video would gain traction decades later.

The video was originally shared to social media more than four years ago but in recent days it resurfaced, being watched by thousands, shocked by the extent of the 1980s mouse outbreak.

“It’s suddenly up to about [60,000 views], most of it just lately,” he said.

“I think people are just in awe of what really happened.”

Steve Henry says there was an unusually high number of mice still breeding as we move closer to autumn. Photo ABC/GRDC

Mouse problem likely to worsen

Experts say the current plague , which has blanketed parts of NSW and Queensland, could worsen, with a significant number of females still breeding, which is unseasonal.

“Normally we’d expect to see mice start breeding in the spring and then as the summer dries out … and food starts to deplete, they stop breeding … and then they decline in numbers through the autumn and winter,” CSIRO research officer Steve Henry said.

“This year what we think will probably happen is they’ll continue to breed if climatic conditions remain favourable.”

Mice can breed from just six weeks old and females can have a litter of six to 10 pups every 20-odd days.

“One hundred mice can multiply to 600 mice after one round of breeding – after two rounds of breeding, they’re starting through the roof,” Mr Henry said.

“The chances of mice to continue to breed in the autumn and causing trouble for the sowing of the winter crop are quite significant.”

Different times, same harsh economic impact

Mr Henry said the 1984 footage was “really disturbing” and while current numbers have not reached those extremes – likely thanks to a change in cropping systems, reducing soil disturbance – they are causing significant financial impacts to farmers recovering from drought.

“I certainly haven’t seen anything like that in the time that I’ve been working on mice,” he said.

“That, of course, isn’t a guarantee that they won’t get to those kinds of numbers again.”

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Multinational miner Rio Tinto is facing a fresh and highly-charged disagreement with the Aboriginal traditional owners of the Juukan Gorge heritage site, which the company blew up last year.

The blast destroyed 46,000-year-old rock shelters in the Pilbara, obliterating sites of great cultural and archaeological significance, and caused serious damage to the company’s reputation.

The detonations cost the jobs of Rio Tinto’s chief executive, corporate affairs boss and the head of iron ore.

In the wake of the cleanout, Ivan Vella was appointed as interim iron ore boss.

But last month Rio Tinto announced he was moving to a different role and another senior executive Simon Trott would replace him.

The Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura peoples (PKKP) Aboriginal Corporation has now written a scathing letter to Rio Tinto criticising the decision to move Mr Vella.

Traditional Owners ‘reluctant’ to continue relationship

The letter says the PKKP was alerted to the personnel change through media reports despite a previous undertaking that Mr Vella would be personally overseeing the repair of the damage to the relationship.

“PKKP has shown nothing but good faith, making real and meaningful efforts to repair our relationship, while every action by Rio Tinto to date, including the latest announcement under your leadership, rings hollow,” the letter says.

“PKKP is reluctant to participate in a relationship of this nature any longer, and I hope you understand that other stakeholders may take a similar approach.”

The aftermath of the massive explosion at the Juukan Gorge caves. Photo: ABC

The letter, signed by the PKKP’s chief executive Grant Wilson, spells out concerns about “trust” in the mining company.

“Now PKKP is left to consider how it will respond to this latest in many disappointments, and whether trust in Rio Tinto can ever be realised,” the letter said.

The correspondence was sent three days ago.

It said the treatment would be perceived as the same “business and usual” approach “that led to the Juukan Gorge tragedy”.

“That Aboriginal stakeholders deserve no consideration or inclusion and should not get in the way of doing business.”

Rio committed to rebuilding ties

Mr Vella is understood to have had direct discussions with traditional owners to explain his departure at the time it was announced, but the PKKP was not satisfied with that.

A spokesman for Rio Tinto said the company was “committed to rebuilding the relationship” with the PKKP.

“This remains a priority for Rio Tinto. We are encouraged by the progress on the planning for the remediation of the Juukan Gorge area but readily acknowledge we have a lot more work ahead of us,” he said.

“We value an honest and open dialogue with the PKKP as this is critical to all enduring relationships.”

The spokesman said Rio Tinto hoped that recent positive engagement could continue.

“Rightly, the relationship with all traditional owners in the Pilbara, including the PKKP, is led by the chief executive of the Iron Ore business,” he said.

“We are confident that ongoing engagement with the PKKP will help maintain the momentum built over recent months.”

Native title body warns Rio has lost ‘respect’

The National Native Title Council said the actions of Rio Tinto threw fresh doubt on its promises of trying to make amends for the damage caused.

“This latest development is a further example of how, despite Rio Tinto’s rhetoric, that not only do they not value their relationship with traditional owners but they do not have the skills necessary to build and repair their partnership with the Indigenous community,” the council’s CEO Jamie Lowe said.

“The lack of respect for the PKKP in breaking this promise, would obviously be deeply disappointing, but it’s also disappointing for the entire sector who are holding high hopes for Rio to overhaul its company culture.”

This week’s letter from the PKKP shows relations have severely frayed since a joint statement issued in late December by Rio Tinto and the traditional owners.

In that two-month old document, the PKKP said they acknowledged that “Rio Tinto has taken steps to address the hurt and devastation” caused by blasting the caves.

That joint document also quoted Mr Vella as the “acting” mines manager.

“We know we have a lot of work to do in order to rebuild trust and confidence in our business. I look forward to continuing the work with PKKP traditional owners to re-chart our partnership and build a shared future,” Mr Vella is quoted as saying.

A parliamentary committee has been investigating the destruction of the heritage sites and the actions of the mining company. It is yet to hand down its final report.

Rio Tinto said it had worked on a rehabilitation program for the destroyed sites, and is assessing ways to further protect the area.

A moratorium on mining has been put in place around Juukan Gorge and the company said artefacts taken from the rock shelters had been moved to a purpose-built facility in line with the wishes of traditional owners.

Previously the parliamentary committee heard evidence of fears for the preservation of thousands of artefacts, some tens of thousands of years old, that were in shipping containers at the mine site and were not being stored in line with museum standards.

-ABC

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