A new book authored by the influential Institute of Public Affairs calls on the Turnbull government to privatise the ABC by giving it away for free to the ABC's employees or Australian citizens.

Against Public Broadcasting, released on Friday night, labels the ABC "an anachronism" whose rationale is now redundant and which has become a $1 billion-a-year drain on the public purse.

Communications Minister Mitch Fifield, who has close links with and remains a member of the IPA - a conservative think-tank - quickly distanced himself from the publication and said the ABC would remain in public hands.

Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has yielded to some of Pauline Nation's demands on the ABC. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

But the book will find its way on to the shelves of many Liberal MPs at a testing time for the public broadcaster as it does battle with a hostile Coalition government and attempts to accommodate an $84 million funding freeze on top of previous cuts.