The world has not been short of really big, consequential stories the past few weeks, from the volatility of China's markets to the drama of Greece in the eurozone and the endgame of negotiations to ring-fence Iran's nuclear program from weapons. Meanwhile in Australia, a royal commission into union shenanigans has come close to ensnaring Bill Shorten, leader of the opposition Labor Party. With impeccable timing and questionable judgment, Prime Minister Tony Abbott distracts attention from these stories and keeps alive the controversy over government meddling in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
On Friday Abbott indicated willingness to lift his unilaterally imposed boycott on his frontbenchers appearing on ABC's popular Q&A program if the program was moved to the ABC's news and current affairs division. Abbott's demand amounts to an ultimatum that the ABC cannot accept without totally destroying its credibility. Oversight of the ABC is properly left to its board, whose members are after all appointed by the government. On Sunday, Labor attacked this as "the greatest attack on the independence of the public broadcaster in its history."
There are two big issues entangled in the ongoing controversy: editorial independence of the public broadcaster in a democracy, and censorship of unpalatable perspectives on important public policy.