Our ABC - now more than ever
The vast majority of ordinary Australians trust and value the ABC – and are saying so in ABC Alumni’s social media election campaign.
The vast majority of ordinary Australians trust and value the ABC – and are saying so in ABC Alumni’s social media election campaign.
We are former ABC employees and contracted media professionals who have helped to produce stories and programs for the ABC across all genres. We believe passionately in the need for a fearless, well-funded and independent public broadcaster as a vital part of Australian democracy.
Will this election bring the end of a taxpayer-funded ABC?
In the USA, the Trump administration has cut all federal funding for the Voice of America and is threatening to do the same for domestic public television (PBS) and radio (NPR).
Might a Dutton-led government do the same in Australia?
The Liberal Party’s National Council passed a motion in 2018 calling for the privatisation of the ABC. No one spoke against that motion, and it has never been rescinded.
News Corp Australia has renewed its decades-old attack, claiming the ABC is a waste of public money.
Peter Dutton has made clear that a government he leads will follow the customary coalition playbook: an ‘efficiency review’ (about the 14th since the year 2000) followed by yet more cuts to the ABC’s budget.
But might he go further? ABC Alumni has written to Mr Dutton asking him to guarantee that the funding model of the ABC won’t change under a government he leads. No subscriptions, no ads, no privatisation.
So far, we’ve received no reply.
Help us make the ABC’s survival a vital issue in the coming election. For more, visit our Election 25 page.
You are qualified to join ABC Alumni if you have worked in the past at the ABC as an employee or contractor or a former creator of ABC content. The annual cost is just $45.
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April 19, 2025
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