It is quite plain that most Australians would like to keep their ABC independent and free. Media polls have been solidly consistent on this point.
It is the most trusted outlet for news and commentary, along with SBS. Despite cyclic onslaughts from politicians, and public hostility against institutions across the board, a solid majority of Australians still turn to the ABC when they want to understand what is going on.
In a post-budget poll conducted by the Australia Institute, 70 per cent of voters believe that a 'strong, independent ABC is critical to a healthy democracy'. Nearly 60 per cent disagree with the idea that it 'should get less funding and provide fewer online and streaming services, so that they don't undermine commercial media'. Majorities in all political parties want a long-term funding boost.
In other words, persistent attacks against the ABC can only be read as un-democratic and should be resisted. Australians do not have a problem with their taxes paying for ABC programs, including those they might not watch or hear, such as the ones broadcast in rural/regional areas. This speaks to the nature of public goods: collectivist, and oriented toward non-discriminatory service. How we feel or personally benefit from it is beside the point.
Sentimentality is not required to defend the ABC. One can be ambivalent or derisive toward it, yet still concede that people deserve access to information and cultural products that are not beholden to private, commercial, government or foreign interests.
It is precisely this detachment from power that leads Australians to trust the ABC. Losing it would leave them un-moored. Who benefits from that? And if people value the ABC and would rather keep it public, then who (or what) are its detractors speaking for?
There is political hay to be made in convincing the right that the ABC has a leftward bias. It is a strategy that counts on short memories. When Labor was in power, its members would routinely complain that, in being too stringent with government, the ABC was actively aiding the Coalition. This only suggests that the ABC does its job, no matter who is in charge.
"It is hard to parse the argument that a publicly funded broadcaster, a national flagship, should be curtailed out of consideration for media companies that have always generated revenue alongside it."
There is also an ideological push in play. As the ABC ventures further into digital platforms, per its charter, this