andrew bolt interview with pm, page-2

Extract from transcript re ABC:


AB: The ABC, though, has run on almost every current affairs show an almost constant barrage of stuff linking climate change to these fires.

PM: That is complete hogwash.

AB: It is time to really question the bias of the ABC?

PM: But people are always questioning the "bias" of the ABC.

AB: Yes, but you're the bloke that is handing over $1.1 billion a year to the ABC to continue a bias that's against their charter.

PM: If we were starting from scratch we may not have the media landscape that we do, but we're not starting from scratch … The ABC is an important part of a pluralistic media landscape, and I'm not going to complain about it, Andrew. I will do what I can to ensure the ABC is well managed, has got a good board, a strong board, and …

AB: But would you agree that the bias of the ABC, as observed even by former ABC chairman Maurice Newman, is in breach of its charter?

PM: I would say that there tends to be an ABC view of the world, and it's not a view of the world that I find myself in total sympathy with. But, others would say that there's a News Limited view of the world.

AB: Taxpayers don't pay News Limited.

PM: But I'm a conservative, I'm a traditionalist. I'm not persuaded that we need radical change here.