Australian prime minister accuses national broadcaster of being unpatriotic

Tony Abbott, Australias prime minister, said he was worried and concerned by ABCs reporting of leaks concerning Australia from US whistleblower Edward Snowden. Photograph: Jason Alden/Bloomberg

Australias conservative prime minister Tony Abbott was a journalist in the 1980s, but that hasnt stopped him getting very close to calling for news censorship.

While some of Abbotts more right-wing Liberal Party colleagues see a Marxist plot every time they see or hear anything on the publicly owned Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the prime minister plays a longer game by kicking the culture wars can on commercial radio.

In his latest interview with Sydney shock-jock Ray Hadley, Abbott said: A lot of people feel at the moment that the ABC instinctively takes everyones side but Australias. I think it dis- mays Australians when the national broadcaster appears to take everyones side but its own and I think it is a problem.

Abbott also said he was worried and concerned by ABCs reporting of leaks concerning Australia from US whistleblower Edward Snowden. The leaks revealed Australias spy agencies had tapped the phones of Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudohoyono and his wife in 2009.

The ABC seemed to delight in broadcasting allegations by a traitor, Abbott said. The ABC didnt just report what he said, they took the lead in advertising what he said and that was a deep concern.

The use of the word advertising was pointed. ABC doesnt have ads and there is no TV licence fee in Australia. It is funded by the government, getting $1.2 billion (788 million) this financial year.

Australias more moderate communications minister Malcolm Turnbull (whom Abbott deposed as leader of the Liberal Party while in opposition) said ABCs internal programming and editorial decisions were the responsibility of the ABC board and executive.

Entitled to opinionHe said while politicians were entitled to their opinion, they could not tell ABC what to broadcast. Whats the alternative . . . the editor-in-chief [of ABC] becomes the prime minister? Turnbull asked.

Greens leader Christine Milne also defended the broadcaster. What Tony Abbott is suggesting is that any news outlet, particularly the ABC, which is critical of any government policy, will come in for criticism from him. The ABC is independent. It is loved by Australians . . . it must be allowed to freely, fairly and fearlessly report the news.

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Australian prime minister accuses national broadcaster of being unpatriotic