What goes on under Australia’s flag

The primarily publicly funded Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has drawn the ire of feminists and politicians alike for its “pathetic and disrespectful” TV depiction of Prime Minister Julia Gillard having sexual intercourse on her office floor beneath the Australian flag. The controversial scene took place last week on the ABC’s new show, At Home With Julia (the season started airing Sept. 7), a comedy about the PM’s private life starring Amanda Bishop as Gillard and Phil Lloyd as the PM’s real-life boyfriend, Tim Mathieson. Critics of the show—some of whom include MPs in Gillard’s Labor Party and parents of Australian war veterans, say the sex scene—however fictional—is disrespectful to both the PM and the country in general. One MP even suggested that government funding for the ABC be internally reviewed. And Gillard isn’t the only public figure under the magnifying glass either: her assistant treasurer, Bill Shorten, has described the show as “very tasteless” (his character is played by a dog). As for Gillard herself? “I’ve got some bigger things on my mind,” the PM told an Australian news program recently, “so I won’t be commenting on it.”