1 day Ago By The Herald's View
Funding of the ABC is hardly at the centre of voters’ priorities this election, yet the public broadcaster remains a curious and divisive obsession within the Liberal Party. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has once again shown his propensity for being roped into arguing over another niche issue, declaring the funding of the ABC will come under scrutiny should the Coalition win office. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, pictured on the campaign trail on Wednesday, brought funding of the ABC into question.
Credit: James Brickwood Talking on Melbourne ABC, he was asked if his policy of cutting 40,000 public servants would impact the ABC. He took the bait, awkwardly fusing the hot-button issue of the cost of living with the fate of the national broadcaster’s finances. “We’ve seen very clearly families are really having to tighten up their budgets and they’re looking for savings just to get through the week or the month until the next .
.. paycheck,” he said.
“I think there’s very good work that the ABC does, and if it’s being run efficiently then [we’ll] ...
keep funding in place. If it’s not being run efficiently ..
. taxpayers pay for it, who work harder than ever just to get ahead. [They] would expect us to not .
.. support the waste.
” The ABC received $1.137 billion in federal funds in 2023–24. The Albanese government has also promised the broadcaster an additional $83 million over two years from July 2026 on top of its base funding.
Dutton’s airy solution is to send in the auditors and somehow shift resources from metro bases. Promising to fiddle with the ABC that has become a Liberal staple. Perhaps the most egregious was in 2018 when Young Liberals dreamt up a motion to sell the ABC which was passed at the party’s federal council in Hobart.
When the vote became public, it raised doubts about whether such naive amateurs have any place at the top table of a major party – at least until they know how to use a knife and fork. The conference was non-binding and nothing was heard further. Older heads within the Liberal Party prevailed.
They know fiddling with the ABC can be political poison, not least because they know that the ABC is sacred to their Coalition partners. Nationals supporters and MPs realise the national broadcaster is everything in regional Australia, and have watched helplessly as services in the bush closed or been withdrawn to capitals while local news coverage and entertainment diminished. That is why Dutton has promised to lever the ABC out of Sydney and Melbourne citadels.
The ABC is an institution greatly valued across Australia, sometimes brilliant, occasionally unbearably lopsided, sadly predictable but always a friend in times of need. Of course, the ABC is a fair subject for debate. The public broadcaster used to be reliable bait for the Liberal Party base, however, as we said, it has not surfaced as a matter of concern this election.
The ABC is far from perfect, but it is not terrible. Dutton should devote his energies to addressing substantive issues and resist going down rabbit holes. Bevan Shields sends an exclusive newsletter to subscribers each week.
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