''What goes around comes around." Kevin Andrews: backs Tony Abbott's attack on the ABC. Credit:Jeffrey Chan At the same time, Mr Andrews said there was nothing wrong with his frontbench colleague Malcolm Turnbull's opinion on the national broadcaster, that appeared to be at odds with Tony Abbott's critique. ''[The Liberal Party is] a broad church," he said. ''There's nothing wrong with people expressing opinions about these things," he said, adding freedom of speech extended to the government.

Mr Turnbull has strongly defended the ABC's editorial independence in the face of Mr Abbott's attack on the national broadcaster, which he said ''instinctively takes everyone's side but Australia's''. The Communications Minister on Wednesday defended the Prime Minister's right to critique the ABC but, in comments that could be interpreted as resistance to Mr Abbott, he said the ABC was rightly accountable to its board of directors, not politicians. ''What's the alternative . . . the editor-in-chief [of the ABC] becomes the prime minister?'' Mr Turnbull said. ''Politicians, whether prime ministers or communications ministers, will often be unhappy with the ABC . . . but you can't tell them what to write.'' Mr Turnbull's comments were supported by Liberal western Sydney MP Craig Laundy, who posted a spirited defence of free speech on Facebook on Thursday morning, arguing that if people did not like the ABC's work, they could change the channel. ''There are many great things about living in a democracy - one of them the luxury of free speech,'' he posted.

The furore was sparked by the emergence of a note on Wednesday from an ABC reporter who said of the broadcaster's reports on allegations asylum seekers were burnt by navy staff: ''My boss believes the allegations are likely to be untrue . . .'' Mr Abbott told radio 2GB on Wednesday that Australians wanted ''some basic affection for the home team'', but Mr Turnbull said the broadcaster was more constrained by rules around editorial fairness than its competitors in commercial media. ''The ABC has to play it straight down the middle. The ABC has a bargain with the Australian people. They have to be rigorously balanced in their coverage,'' Mr Turnbull said. ''Remember, if it wasn't for the ABC and Fairfax we might not know of the latest round of union corruption.'' Labor's communications spokesman, Jason Clare, claimed Mr Abbott was laying the groundwork to cut back the ABC's $1 billion annual funding.

On Thursday, acting Labor leader Tanya Plibersek seized on reports that cabinet would strip the ABC of its Australia Network contract, accusing the Coalition of engaging in a ''very petty tit-for-tat exchange with our national broadcaster''. ''Before the election, the government were very clear that they wouldn't be cutting funding to the ABC,'' she said. ''And today we read in the newspapers that they're proposing to cut almost a quarter of a billion dollars from the ABC at what seems to be a very petty tit-for-tat exchange with our national broadcaster.'' Greens Leader Christine Milne said the ABC was independent and loved by Australians and should be allowed to freely report the news. ''What on earth is Tony Abbott thinking, suggesting that the national broadcaster not do its job but, instead, pick and choose what it reports and how it reports it on the basis of whether it supports the Prime Minister's view of some jingoistic nationalism,'' she said.

ABC managing director Mark Scott declined to comment on Mr Abbott's remarks. Mr Scott has spoken to Mr Turnbull about the coverage of the claims asylum seekers suffered burns to their hands due to mistreatment by Australians. The minister said, in his view, criticism of the story was justified and unfounded allegations had been given too much weight. ''I thought the allegations were beyond implausible, I thought they bordered on inconceivable,'' he said. In his Facebook post, Liberal MP Mr Laundy said: ''I've been watching, with interest, arguments over the ABC and the quality of their coverage of different issues. Do I believe they should have aired the story re Indonesia - probably not. Do I believe they should have run the story about abuse claims re the Navy - definitely not. ''However - as a proud Liberal, they ABSOLUTELY have the right to do so without fear or favour. The best part of 'freedom of the press' is that you get a HUGE variety of views - just as you get in society. ''My advice to those who don't like the job the ABC are doing, my colleagues included, is to do what those living a democracy have been doing since 'Adam was a boy'....change the channel, the dial, or the website you visit.''

Coalition senator Ian Macdonald vigorously supported the Prime Minister's criticism of the ABC on Thursday, noting that constituents asked him, ''when are you going to get rid of the ABC?'' In an interview with ABC radio, the Queensland LNP senator said it would be ''nice'' to see the ABC ''occasionally reporting the positives and giving some balance''. When asked to give an example of unbalanced reporting, Senator Macdonald replied that it was not one incident, but a ''general approach'' of the broadcaster in Sydney and Melbourne. ''I find local radio very, very good,'' he added. Senator Macdonald - who last year slammed Mr Abbott and his office for excessive control - said many people said to him that the ABC had a ''clear left-Green agenda''.

He said that the ABC went ''on and on about minor matters that are derogatory'', nominating the issue of climate change. ''You get weeks of a story that supports the view of ABC producers and some journalist on their view on climate change, and you get barely a whimper from the majority who understand that the climate does change,'' he said. Loading with Rick Feneley, Jonathan Swan Follow us on Twitter