The first thing that needs to be said is that I think we are all here because we all love the ABC, care about it, enjoy it. It is our Broadcaster of Choice. The ABC unapologetically caters to the needs of those who like thinking, all those who are interested in ideas, complex information and culture.
Someone has to do it.
In that sense, the ABC services and is part of the country's intellectual group, in the broadest sense of that term. Neither the ABC, nor the Government who funds it, nor the electorate should begrudge this. The ABC is a crucial vehicle for the dissemination of ideas and information that ultimately does affect the lives of all Australians. In that sense, working for the ABC is a great responsibility as well as a great privilege. It can be said of any institution, including this unique broadcaster, that it could do better.