ABC Chair Ita Buttrose has spoken out strongly against ABC detractors in a wide-ranging speech delivered to the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation .
Ms Buttrose said the ABC is crucial to maintaining a strong democracy and must be well funded. She called on the government to lift the current indexation freeze on ABC funding and to increase allocations for its emergency services broadcasting.
She also said that the ABC intends to push for legislative reforms to better protect journalists and their sources, and that she supports the establishment of a media freedom act.
Read the full speech or you can watch it here