"It’s time": Ray Martin shares his thoughts on Scott Morrison
60 Minutes legend Ray Martin has opened up about his “very strong” political views ahead of the federal election, all while sharing scathing views of the current Prime Minister.
During an interview with columnist and author Peter FitzSimons last week, the five-time Gold Logie winner admitted his political views were hard to figure out from an outsider’s perspective.
“Do you have strong political passions one way or another?” FitzSimons asked.
“Very strong. But back then nothing pleased me more than doing an interview with John Howard, Bob Hawke or Paul Keating and have 50 percent of the people say ‘It’s clear from that interview, you’re a card-carrying Commie, and the other half, you’re a blue ribbon Liberal’.”
When probed further, Martin referenced Gough Whitlam’s 1972 ‘It’s Time’ campaign and told FitzSimons he thought “it’s time again”.
“I have interviewed every Prime Minister since Bob Menzies and I think this is the most incompetent government we’ve had. It’s time,” he said of the government under Scott Morrison.
The 77-year-old also spoke about the criticism he copped after revealing to the public that he was 1/16th Indigenous, adding that he doesn’t identify as Indigenous.
Martin explained how he discovered that his great-great-grandfather had settled down with a Kamilaroi woman outside Gunnedah in northeast NSW.
“I’m very proud of it and I wrote a piece in the Woman’s Weekly about that and the hit-back [was ferocious] that a percentage of my blood was Aboriginal,” he said.
“I acknowledge that 15/16th of my blood is Irish, 1/16 of my blood is Aboriginal, and I’m very proud of both.”
The journalist has been working to strengthen relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people for the last 40 years, well before he found out about his heritage.
“I’m ashamed of Australia’s Aboriginal policy over the years,” Martin continued. “As Sir William Dean says, that’s probably the festering sore of Australian society that we still shamefully treat our First Australians, so badly.”
Martin is best-known for his time hosting The Midday Show, A Current Affair, and 60 Minutes during his eventful five-decades-long career.
Working alongside his fellow correspondents - first George Negus and Ian Leslie, then Jana Wendt - they went on to become rock stars of Australian journalism.
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