The ABC has upheld a listener complaint against Melbourne Mornings presenter Jon Faine. 

In March this year Faine ran a segment critical of NBN Co. 

During a heated discussion with an NBN representative, Faine made some remarks, that were seen as derogatory by at least one listener about the company’s technicians being from India or south-east Asia. That listener lodged a formal complaint with ABC management. 

After an investigation, the complaint has been upheld.

In its apology published on its website, The ABC acknowledged that “There was no editorial justification for the presenter’s reference to ethnicity in this context. Further, the presumed ethnicity of the workers was used in a pejorative sense and had the effect of condoning discriminatory stereotypes which was not in keeping with the ABC’s editorial standards for harm and offence. 
 
“The ABC apologised for this lapse in standards.”

It was not the first time Jon Faine has been crticised for disparaging remarks. While interviewing disability activist Carly Findlay, who lives with a rare and painful skin condition called Ichthyosis, he told her, “You look as if you’re a burns victim … It can’t be good on Halloween.”

‘The horror point was when he said my face would be good at Halloween’