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This article is more than 2 years old

A majority of Australians believe a strong, independent ABC is critical to a healthy democracy and oppose a cut to ABC funding, according to a new poll.



The Australia Institute poll found 70% of people wanted a strong ABC and 60% agreed the ABC needed a “boost to long term funding”.

The poll was released after the Coalition slashed the ABC’s budget by $84m last week.

Operational funding for the ABC will remain at 2018-19 levels over three years in what the government has called an indexation freeze and the ABC has called a funding cut.

The Australia Institute conducted a national survey last month of 1,557 people with nationally representative samples by gender, age and state and territory.

Responses to the question “to what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?” Illustration: The Australia Institute

Fifty-eight percent of respondents disagreed with the statement: “The ABC and SBS should get less funding and provide fewer online and streaming services, so that they don’t undermine commercial media.”

The Australia Institute’s deputy director, Ebony Bennett, said there had never been a greater need for a strong, independent and trusted public broadcaster.

“With stronger-than-expected revenue, the government should be investing in a boost to the long-term funding of the ABC, a move that would be supported by a majority of voters,” Bennett said.

“Seven in 10 Australians think a strong, independent ABC is critical to a healthy democracy. Cutting funding to the ABC is the opposite of what we should be doing in an age of ‘fake news’ and when the business model for journalism has been seriously disrupted.”

The ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie’s response to the budget cut has led to heightened tensions between the public broadcaster and the minister for communications.

The ABC was forced to correct a statement claiming its funding had been cut by $120m rather than $84m after Mitch Fifield said no decision had been made on a separate funding grant for enhanced news gathering.

“An earlier version of this statement said the enhanced news gathering initiative would not be renewed at a cost of $43m. The ABC acknowledges a decision on this funding is yet to be made by the government.”

Fifield denied the cut was payback for ABC news and programming content that has led to complaints by sections of the government.

“This budget decision has nothing to do with the way the ABC covers news and current affairs,” Fifield told ABC radio’s Raf Epstein.

“Whenever I’m asked about the ABC, and whether it is an organisation that tilts one way or the other – I always cite the Parliament House bureau of the ABC as being a very straight-down-the-line operation. And I think they do good work.”

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On Friday Fifield appointed Melbourne investment banker Joseph Gersh to the ABC board as a non-executive director, despite his name not being on the final list of recommended candidates provided by a panel set up to vet candidates.

Gersh is a friend and political ally of Liberal power brokers Peter Costello and Michael Kroger from university politics.

The minister has the power to appoint directly but must submit a list of reasons to parliament.

Fifield has also appointed Vanessa Guthrie, Kirstin Ferguson and Donny Walford to the ABC board this way.