Nationals MP Alison Penfold responds to ‘hurtful' false claim made by ABC reporter as national broadcaster apologises

Sky News AU

26-05-2025

Nationals MP Alison Penfold has responded after an ABC reporter made a 'hurtful' mischaracterisation of her response to the disastrous floods in her electorate of Lyne on the Mid North Coast.
During the ABC's Insiders discussion on Sunday, federal politics reporter Claudia Long heavily suggested Nationals MPs, including Ms Penfold, had abandoned their electorates grappling with devastating floods to turn their attention to Canberra during their party's dispute with the Liberals.
The ABC segment focused on the standoff between the Liberals and the Nationals, during which Ms Long said, 'I think the other thing that's probably really important to regional communities is that they have a local member who's there when their electorate is, for example, flooding and people are dying.'
Speaking to Sky News host Peta Credlin on Monday evening, Ms Penfold said she was 'pleased' the ABC apologised, however, Ms Long has yet to clarify her remarks.
The ABC journalist said two of the deaths, a 63-year-old man and a 30-year-old man, had both occurred on Wednesday and Thursday in Ms Penfold's seat before suggesting the Nationals MP's attention was elsewhere.
'On Thursday afternoon, that's when we had the press conference from the Nationals in the hall, just to go over that timeline,' she said.
Ms Long then took aim at Nationals MP Pat Conaghan, adding that a 60-year-old woman had died in her car in his seat of Cowper, near Coffs Harbour.
'I think the important thing is that when you're in opposition it's also still your job to be a local member and represent your communities and to be there for them,' she said.
Ms Penfold told Credlin she had been in Wingham, west of Taree, that morning talking to businesses and flood affected residents.
'This journalist, I've never met her, in fact, I'd never heard of her until yesterday, had not even bothered to call me before making these sorts of comments,' Ms Penfold told Sky News.
' I've been hard at work and as has Pat in the electorate. We live here, we know people affected.'
On the morning of the 63-year-old man's death, Ms Penfold said she had been in a community in Coopernook, 24 kilometres north of Taree, but couldn't go any further south because highway had been cut off.
Ms Penfold said the next morning she wanted to meet with the man's daughter.
'I'd gone in the morning after the gentleman had passed away. I'd been asked to bring down some milk and bread and I'd being told about this incident and I wanted to go and see the daughter of the gentleman who passed away, but the community said, 'look, she's so raw, you can't go,'' she said.
'I felt the pain of the families that have been affected by this flood and to be somehow then shamed, my reputation tarnished for doing something that I hadn't done.'
Ms Penfold said she was a member-elect and had not yet been declared as the elected MP, and therefore had no government resources to assist in her response and community work.
'Look, I am pleased the ABC took steps to apologise. I noticed [the apology was] from the ABC and not the journalist in question, but it's an apology all the less,' she said.
'I just want to get on with the job and be out there supporting people who need me.'
The ABC issued an apology on Sunday and said Ms Lon had made 'comments inferring' the National MPs were not in their electorates during the recent NSW floods.
'The ABC wishes to clarify that both Penfold and Conaghan spent the week in their electorates and sincerely apologises for the error. The comment has been removed from the on-demand version of the program,' the ABC apology read.
SkyNews.com.au has contacted Claudia Long for comment. She did not respond before publication.
Speaking of her flood response, Ms Penfold said she had been at a dairy property outside of Taree where the debris had been pushed through from the force of the floodwater until it was 'up to the level of the roof of a house'.
'Today, I was in another community called Croki, which is right on the Manning River ... my boots sunk into mud to ankle depth. They need the sort of equipment that can move lots of big logs and trees … so people can get on with their lives,' she said.
'We have a long way to go and this government better dig deep because this community had a major flood only just under five years ago. A lot of people still haven't recovered. There's a lot of pain and a lot of need here and we need the government to step up, governments to step-up and really help these communities.'