By Danielle Kutchel
Diane Cornish is listening to ABC as we speak – that’s how passionate she is about Australia’s Aunty.
“I’ve been listening to ABC all my life – I’ve got my earpiece in now, listening to ABC Radio!” she says.
Ms Cornish is a member of the La Trobe subgroup of ABC Friends, an organisation of ABC supporters who are committed to protecting the independence and existence of the public broadcaster.
The subgroup has presented a petition to La Trobe candidates Jason Wood and Simon Curtis, which highlights local support for the ABC and argues against funding cuts to and restrictions on the media outlet.
“The Liberal Party is demonstrably not supporting the ABC, they keep cutting budget and they voted at their convention to sell the ABC. They stopped broadcasting to our Pacific neighbours,” Ms Cornish said.
“We’re trying to encourage people to vote for a party which will support the ABC.”
The group has been distributing leaflets in the lead up to the election to encourage voters to consider the public broadcaster when numbering their ballot.
Ms Cornish says she is passionate about ensuring the ABC remains a dependable and free part of the media landscape.
“For me personally, it’s about supporting democracy. We need to hear voices that are not being slaved by corporates. The commercial channels are all influenced by making a dollar, and as Australians we need to hear news that is not being filtered by corporations or by governments.
“It needs to be independent of government – otherwise how do we know if we’re being governed badly?” she says.
The group’s petition was presented at a pre-election rally at Deakin Edge in Melbourne over the weekend, where Opposition Leader Bill Shorten promised a further $40 million in funding for the ABC, on top of his previous pledge to scrap the Coalition’s $84 million indexation freeze.
Ms Cornish says the petition was well received by attendees.
She believes the ABC offers something for all generations to enjoy and learn from.
“I get a lot of my information about the world via ABC, and it’s really important that kids have good stuff to watch like Playschool. The most important thing is that we have experienced and educated specialists explaining things to us. We need more than just the headlines, we need more than clickbait – no one gets educated by clickbait! I also think it’s important we tell Australian stories.”
She says she is heartened by support for the ABC and ABC Friends on the ground in La Trobe.
“If we don’t stand up and shout that the ABC is important then the government will kill it by a thousand cuts.”
