"Internationally, the Australia Plus channel does carry advertising, so internationally we already have that example," Ms Guthrie told ABC News 24 on Monday. NSW Nationals Senator Fiona Nash ... new deputy leader. Credit:Andrew Meares "It is important on an overall basis in budget-constrained times to really look at all options around monetisation but … it is early to be able to make pronouncements." Speaking from her farm in central NSW near Cowra, the Nationals' deputy leader in the Senate Fiona Nash said a paywall on the ABC was an appalling idea. "It's a dreadful idea, Australians have already paid for the ABC once why should they pay for it again?" Senator Nash told Fairfax Media.

"That regional people could miss out on regional content because they would forced to pay for it is appalling." In Australia, most goods and services come with automatic consumer guarantees. Credit:Louise Kennerley Commercial broadcasters fiercely lobbied against a proposal to double the quota of advertising SBS is allowed to carry, contributing to its defeat in the Senate. Julie Flynn from Free TV said any changes to the ABC's charter to allow advertising would also be vigorously opposed. "Commercial free-to-air broadcasters invest significantly in local content, and we would oppose any changes to the ABC that would result in metro and regional broadcasters having to compete for advertising dollars with a very generously funded broadcaster," Ms Flynn said. "We continue to pay the highest broadcast licence fees in the world, while competing against global players who are unregulated and pay little or no tax in this country."

Digital first It's a dreadful idea, Australians have already paid for the ABC once why should they pay for it again? Nationals senator Fiona Nash Ms Guthrie is currently a Singapore-based senior executive with Google. She confirmed she would continue the ABC's aggressive push into the digital world, particularly online, which burgeoned under outgoing managing director Mark Scott. "The key thing is what audiences really desire and how that is really changing so rapidly with digital transformation so we really need the organisation to respond to those fast-changing audience needs very quickly," Ms Guthrie said. The former Labor government amended the ABC's charter to include digital platforms validating the digital push.

But former Liberal treasurer Peter Costello has questioned whether the ABC needs to be operating in the digital television or online spaces at all. In an opinion piece for News Corp, the Treasurer said with the budget in "deep deficit", the ABC's size needed to be reassessed. "Why does the ABC need to be across all this different media? Why does the taxpayer need to fund a competitor in an internet space that is crowded with private operators?" Mr Costello said. "There are so many things that taxpayers are asked to pay for. How high, as a priority, is digital communication and entertainment?" Newspoll results commissioned by the ABC and published in its 2014-2015 annual report showed 84 per cent of Australians believe the ABC represents good or very good value for money.

The same polling showed respondents nominating the ABC as the most trusted news outlet in Australia. Follow us on Twitter Follow Latika Bourke on Facebook