Imperialist ABC, it’s time to retreat

When the Australian Broadcasting Corporation was officially launched on July 1, 1932, by prime minister Joseph Lyons, it operated a single radio service.

Based on the British Broadcasting Corporation model, the ABC became much loved. But a new instinct has joined the ABC’s values of public service broadcasting: the urge to smother all rivals.

Fast-forward 85 years and the ABC is under scrutiny over its reach and competitive impulses. A public service broadcaster funded by the taxpayer, for which no one can opt out, holds a uniquely protected position. It was budgeted to receive almost $1.04 billion in base funding in 2016-17.

The ABC is crowding out and threatening the survival of commercial news organisations because it enjoys that privileged status and has become a state-funded player across every media channel in the digital age.

That is the judgment not only of News Corp, publisher of The Australian, but of every other big commercial operator including Fairfax Media, Seven West Media and Nine Entertainment.

Whether it’s using taxpayer dollars to push other media out of Google search results, or undercutting the corporate sector in commercial tendering processes, the ABC’s imperialism has reached an absurd and costly climax. The decision to hold a government inquiry into whether the practices of the ABC and Special Broadcasting Service are breaching the principle of competitive neutrality is long overdue.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson should get credit for pushing through a measure that will force the ABC to be more transparent about staff wages.

Senator Bridget McKenzie’s proposal to enhance the ABC’s output in rural and regional Australia is also a welcome move. The current state of affairs is remote from the letter and spirit of the charter granted to the ABC.

It would have been inconceivable almost 90 years ago that it would lose its way representing rural and regional Australia. Local news is vital to the fabric of these ­communities. It is bad for the public, who expect a diversity of ­voices, and alien to the ethos of a vibrant democracy.

The ABC and SBS have parked their tanks on the commercial sector’s front lawns. They should withdraw, and return to their public service roots.