Indi,
Nothing is forever and that includes the style of the Auntie and Prime Ministers.
Both are imperfect and are subject to change which has to be a good thing, especially in the case of Prime Ministers who are really only people with over-sized egos, little practicality and a bag full of half baked ideas.
Take it easy.
SD

The ABC and its sister the SBS provide excellent, timely examples of the worth of sunset clauses in legislation. It is a very long time since the ABC was established and even then its formation did not involve any real examination of public need and other options, apart from simply lurching along from its PMG origin.

I have asked a number of times in threads what business case could be made for the establishment of the ABC and the SBS for than matter if either did not already exist today. There have been no takers and for good reason I suspect. Emotion and habit retain the ABC.

Government is expected to expend the taxes it collects wisely, putting first the fundamental purposes for which it (government) was created. The lesson of the stones and sand in the bottle is relevant: if the sand is put in first the stones do not fit. Place the stones in first and a lot of sand can fit. However government is continually giving priority to the populist 'sand' and there is a lack of planning for the very big issues, the 'stones', such as aged care.

I submit that in modern times the publicly-funded national broadcasters are big enough and ugly enough to be set free from government control and from the taxpayer's teat of course. However if some interests demand that the taxpayer continue to stump up for them, that must be under sunset clauses, where these well-fed quangos are annually required to present a proper business case for their continued preferential treatment and public funding.

Where age pensioners and unemployed youth request support, be that a dollar extra a fortnight, parliamentary scrutiny is always tight and never forgotten. Parliament is parsimonious in those cases. What about the ABC and SBS? Will it always be that sauce for the goose is not good enough for the gander?

Shaggy Dog,
It's simply a case of ABC leftie bias overdose & indoctrinated presenters. Too much, time to get out the red hot poker. Also, the insanity of promo playing is starting to reach intolerable levels. Time for some sanity don't you think ?

OTB,
Sunset clauses are inherent in nature.
Everything comes to an end eventually. Some sooner than others. The ABC will fade out eventually, well after Tony Abbot I imagine.
Legislation is usually the result of someone trying to impose their view on somebody else.
Take it easy.
SD

Cohenhite

Using Andrew Bolt as a link to support your 'case' was a joke, no?

I have made no comment about Julia Gillard, so your demand that I produce some sort of evidence to support something I haven't written is just silly.

Alan
Your paraphrase of the Corbett interview is a complete misrepresentation. The interviewer began by referring to a recent poll showing that public trust and confidence in Rudd had fallen below Abbott, and asking why Corbett though that was.

The second simply asks “What about Tony Abbott, what kind of Prime Minster do you think he’ll make” - a rather bland but entirely neutral question.

Abbott’s poll ratings have fallen sharply. If a Labor supporter was asked “why do you think Abbott’s popularity has fallen so sharply since he became PM”, would you regard that as a biased question?

I agree Corbett’s Liberal affiliations should have been identified, though.