ABC Veteran Slams The Government For Trying To Interfere With The Public Broadcaster

Former 7:30 Report and Four Corners host Kerry O’Brien has hit out at the government’s treatment of the ABC, saying that the government’s attempt to sack journalists amounts to “reckless vandalism”.

In special segment on Channel Ten’s Sunday Project, O’Brien monologued about the importance of the ABC and the harm that government interference can bring to independent journalism.

“The more the ABC has been accused of left wing bias, the more the public has responded by voting it the most trusted institution in the country,” O’Brien said, citing a poll by the Australia Institute that reported 76 percent of those surveyed by the left-wing think tank agreed that the ABC should be protected from political interference.

“It has earned that trust over decades, without fear or favour.”

Last week, ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie was sacked by the ABC board. In the days that followed, emails were leaked that revealed that ABC chairmen Justin Milne had pressured Guthrie in an attempt to sack two ABC reporters. Milne resigned later that week.

“The last thing any of us want tot see is ABC journalists becoming timid because their job is at risk,” O’Brien said of the week’s upper management drama.

 

“The ABC has forced royal commission on governments again and again, by exposing scandal like the mistreatment of the aged in pursuit of profit,” he said. “Has there ever been a more important time to have a strong, public broadcaster?”

Check out the full segment here: