Critics notwithstanding,the ABC has consolidated its position during COVID-19 as Australia’s most trusted news source.
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The ABC is not the communications arm of the government,and its independence and its obligation of impartiality are enshrined by law. When Abbott observes that the ABC “tend(s) to be against the Australian government,regardless of its persuasion”,many would see that as the ABC doing its job – holding those in power to account.
Abbott’s observation to the IPA that “if Australia is in a disagreement with another country,they[the ABC] tend to take that country’s perspective” is not only factually inaccurate,it is insulting to those who work at the national broadcaster.
I accept the criticism that the ABC’s “vibe” is more left than right,an observation that is similarly made about the BBC. Not everyone agrees with that assessment,and on any given issue there is criticism that the broadcaster has leant too far in one direction or another.
It is my view that the ABC should have more conservative voices. I have said so publicly,but the directors cannot and do not interfere with editorial decision-making. This ensures the national broadcaster is at arm’s length from the government of the day.
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The ABC board,at the initiative of the chair,Ita Buttrose,has taken a significant step in commissioning an independent review of its complaints process led by former Commonwealth and NSW ombudsman John McMillan and former SBS,Seven and Ten news boss Jim Carroll. Independent reviews are part of the ABC’s quality-assurance processes and are commissioned after every federal election to assess the impartiality of the ABC’s election coverage.
The public is entitled to a robust and timely mechanism for assessing complaints about ABC content. Nobody ought to pre-empt the independent review. But for my part,I encourage the ABC to be less defensive about complaints and to apply more common sense when responding to them.
The ABC’s five-year plan led by managing director David Anderson anticipates 75 per cent of content-makers will be working outside the Sydney Ultimo headquarters. This is a significant reform designed to genuinely diversify the range of perspectives and issues raised within the ABC.
As a plan,it recognises that the “bias” of which many complain is not so much the consequence of self-selecting politics,but rather a difference of political priorities and perceptions of those living in inner cities,which often contrasts with those living in rural and regional Australia. Over time,this also will better reflect the cultural and linguistic diversity of modern Australia.
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Classical liberals (among whom I count myself) hold that freedom of speech is a manifestation of the belief in individual liberty. As the Centre for Independent Studies’ executive director Tom Switzer wrote in a recent anthology:“If genuine Liberals,conservatives and classical liberals fail to defend civil discourse and stand up and confront cancel culture when it rears its ugly head,the foundations of democracy risk becoming permanently disfigured.”
Co-opting the tactics of the illiberal left and “cancel culture” to criticise the ABC from the perspective of the centre-right is a deeply flawed strategy.
The ABC is not beyond criticism – far from it. Many of the IPA’s criticisms may be valid. But how to improve a national treasure is a more worthwhile discussion than how to “cancel” it. From the perspective of the centre-right,that’s how I would approach it.
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