Hay Kingy boy, you very quickly dodge the fact that 80% of the population disagreed with the opinion of your sheltered workshop academics. To this Loony it would be reasonable for the public broadcaster, payed for by the public, would reflect, at least to some extent, the opinion of its funder. Obviously beneath the dignity of such an august body.

I do realise that the academic community, & the left fellow travelers believe that the ABC is actually their private vehicle, & should never, at any time, reflect the opinion of that dreadful mass of public that pay your way.

Afraid of academics, well, it is hard to be scared of the totally incompetent. However it is true to say I am a little worried at the excessive influence they have, particularly in view of their lack of ability at anything practical.

Academia was bad enough in the early 60s when I was involved. Since then it has grown exponentially, with the growth in universities, spreading the available talent so thinly, that it is now impossible to find.

Yes, I think disgusted, rather than frightened, would cover my feelings better.

So you think that if a person gets a university education, they are in fact brainwashed by some kind of 'left wing' propaganda system?

Then how do you explain me, the conservative commentators in the papers whose career is actually a university professor, and most of the Liberal Party? We aren't exactly shining examples of 'left-wingedness', to say the least.

Now, for public opinion- unfortunately until you hold a referendum on policy, you would never know if most of the people support or are against the belief of Global Warming (although the closest we would have are opinion polls setting most Australians against the Gillard lying backflip over the Carbon tax/trading promise).

With that in mind, wouldn't the purpose of the channel be to present information on issues, rather than simply opinions from a bunch of token "left wing" or "right wing" lobbyists to make various minorities feel better?

So far, from the ABC and SBS combined I'm seeing very neutral, balanced programming, with the only massive political biases being from opinion shows and interview shows where a popular issue is raised, and the program interviews the main actors pushing the issue (as one normally would), with a few counter-viewpoint individuals included in the debate.
Beyond that, a few shows casually mentioning people living on low-altitude islands *might* be flooded by rising sea levels, and a couple of programs by advocates taking up a slim space.

Even the pro-refugee show was a worthwhile program in that it actually provides insights to a potentially dubious audience (and I'm not pro-refugee at all).

To put it another way, a better channel presents views other than my own to my understanding- rather than tells me things I like to hear because I'm afraid of different ideas.