Ashton Platt, the 10-year-old boy whose question on Q&A stole the show, was scripted for him
THE family of a 10-year-old boy who asked a video question on the ABC’s Q&A program on Monday night about Tony Abbott’s “attack” on free speech has admitted it was scripted for him.
Ashton Platt a bespectacled 10-year-old from Highbury in South Australia asked whether he should be “afraid” of Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s condemnation of the ABC following the controversial June 22 episode featuring convicted criminal and terrorism sympathiser Zaky Mallah.
The youngster said he had spent his holidays watching WWII films and realised that attacking freedom of speech was one way in which dictators tried to control public debate and thoughts.
But the boy’s mother, Suzi, said the question was not a spontaneous one by her son and the whole family had drafted it.The question sparked a lot of debate online both immediately after it and throughout the day.
His father, Paul, also admitted on Neil Mitchell’s 3AW radio program that it was not written directly by him.
He said that until recently his son had been a “huge supporter of Tony Abbott”.
“We find that quite interesting because of all the negative media,” Mr Platt said.
“As a family we tend to watch predominantly the ABC and the SBS.”Twitter and the internet was awash with criticism and support following the boy’s question, again leaving the program the centre of controversy.
The show came under fire after it allowed Mallah to ask a question of the panel from the audience last month.
Mallah was charged and cleared under terror laws in 2005 but pleaded guilty to threatening to kill ASIO officers.
He said the government’s stance on citizenship gave justification to young Australian Muslims wanting to join ISIS.
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