Howard hits out at 'lopsided' 'Bastard Boys'

Prime Minister John Howard has lashed out at the ABC's Bastard Boys television drama series.

The series was based on the 1998 waterfront industrial dispute in Melbourne, and aired on ABC TV earlier this week.

"One of the most lopsided pieces of political propaganda I've seen on the national broadcaster in years," Mr Howard told a business lunch in Cairns.

"It completely ignored the fact that the Australian waterfront was notoriously inefficient and all of the collaborative attempts that had been made over the years to change that had failed."