All governments loathe the ABC, but some more so than others. Here’s proof

Tension between federal governments and the ABC is inbuilt because the ABC is a statutory authority bound by its charter to provide an independent broadcasting service.

Its editorial policies require it to follow “fundamental journalistic principles of accuracy and impartiality” and reports on Australia and the world “without fear or favour, even when that might be uncomfortable or unpopular”.

This includes the government of the day, whose activities are routinely covered by ABC news and current affairs. This sounds like a statement of the bleeding obvious but is rarely stated — which means most forget or don’t understand what is at stake in government-ABC relations.

The tension surfaces on the government’s side in various overt and covert methods of controlling the public broadcaster, and on the ABC’s side in routine proclamations of independence from government, whether Labor or Liberal.