ABC needs to toughen up for battle, says Kerry Stokes

Kerry Stokes says the ABC should step up and be more competitive, in the same spirit as commercial media operations.

Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes says ABC needs to be more competitive. Picture: Jane Dempster

Kerry Stokes has little sympathy for the put-upon ABC, saying the public broadcaster would have a “soft bite” if it were a punching bag.

The Seven West Media chairman says the ABC should step up and be more competitive, in the same spirit as commercial media operations.

“I don’t know that privatisation is the real issue,” Mr Stokes said yesterday. “Everyone just wants to get value for money from the ABC … They seem to run on their own agendas. I can see why people get upset and say they should be privatised.

“If you think of privatisation as being competitive, we’d actually enjoy them being competitive. At the moment they get their funding regardless of their performance.”

ABC managing director ­Michelle Guthrie on Tuesday said the public resented the ABC being “used as a punching bag by narrow political, commercial and ideological interests”.

Her speech at the Melbourne Press Club followed the Liberal Party’s annual council on Saturday where members voted to privatise the ABC, although the Turnbull government rejected the notion.

She said the ABC would probably fetch a high price in the market and took a swing at commercial TV networks, suggesting they compromised quality for profit.

Mr Stokes said he was taken aback by Ms Guthrie’s remarks.

“They beat SBS but it’s all they beat,” he said. “As for a quality service, if they had that much quality, they would certainly have a lot more viewers than they have.”

He brushed off Ms Guthrie’s complaints about the ABC being a punching bag.

“I don’t think anyone’s ever punched … Goodness gracious, The Australian and the commercial networks know what it’s like to have to work for your money and provide value for service. If that was the definition of a punching bag it would be a soft bite, wouldn’t it?”