The ABC and The Gang of Thieves

Australia’s public broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is one of Australia’s most important democratic and geopolitical institutions; our public broadcaster has in-fields across the many mediums from television, radio, and even internet spaces through content such as Hottest 100, Radio National, kids programs such as Bluey and Prank Patrol, and ABC News online articles. The content we consume that is provided by the ABC is countless.

The ABC was and (hopefully) always will be here for Australians. It is an essential service for our regional communities, where it provide emergency warning and information during natural disasters, as opposed to adfilled private TV channels or radio. It gives Australians an opportunity to speak about their story including, Australian artists having the chance on Triple J’s Hottest 100 to working studios across every state. The ABC is here for us.

Yet, there is a gang in favour of selling off our ABC and trying to destroy this public asset. Conservative think tanks, such as the IPA, spread misinformation and lies about our ABC. The Young Liberals put forward motions to privatize our ABC. The Liberal Party National Council passes such motions. The Liberal Party may go on about skills and jobs, but they care very little about the skills and jobs the ABC is host to - since the Liberals took office in 2014, the ABC has lost 640 jobs. Even the Australian Federal Police conduct raids against our public broadcaster - with 2 raids occurring in 2020 alone, after the ABC exposed Australian war crimes in Afghanistan. The ABC belongs to the Australian public, not this gang of thieves. Deloitte found that the ABC brought $744 million back into our economy - We know the ABC gives back to our economy. The ABC has even been under major attack by Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, who have waged war against our public broadcaster since ABC’s four corners special “Fox and the Big Lie” exposed Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News for promoting Donald Trump and his dangerous propaganda. The Liberals and Murdoch’s attack our institution, from 2020 raids to the decadelong drain of Liberal cuts. Why? The ABC is an important part of our democracy and the nation; I mentioned that a lot since the ABC has many functions to our government and is an important part of democracy; since it holds the government to account for their actions and doesn’t have private sector interests like Newscorp and Fairfax. With a majority of Australians agreeing that the ABC is critical to a healthy Australian Democracy with 25% strongly agreeing. (Polling from the Australia Institute’s Democracy & Accountability Program). In the ABC charter, the ABC is required to have Parliament Question Time aired, as boring as it is, it’s an important part of our democracy and keeps the Government accountable. The ABC is Australia’s Most trusted news source and over 70% of Aussies read, watch and listen to ABC each week, for good reason. In a time of misinformation and attacks on democratic institutions across the globe; we must guarantee that our independent public broadcaster will stay ours and safe. Any cuts on the ABC is cuts on Australia’s democratic, and emergency broadcaster roles. Just remember what the ABC has provided for us since after all this year is the 90th birthday of the ABC.

Words by Lachlan White