Speaking at a pre-election event yesterday in Melbourne, jointly organised by ABC Alumni and ABC Friends, ALP leader Bill Shorten said, “The Liberals have to learn, ‘Hands off the ABC’.”

David Anderson has been confirmed as the ABC's new Managing Director.

Veteran reporter Sean Dorney has given his name to a $10,000 journalism grant, to be awarded annually by the Walkley Foundation commencing in 2019.
 
The Sean Dorney Grant for Pacific Journalism will support a significant work of Australian journalism about an under-reported issue or development in the region.
 

The Acting Managing Director of the ABC, David Anderson,  has written to staff telling them that despite extensive requests from the ABC, the Budget papers have locked in the $83.7 million pause in indexation funding flagged in last year’s budget.

He has told staff that on top of the $254 million the ABC has had to absorb in efficiency cuts over the past five years, the first year impact of a $14.6 million cut will mean that to meet costs there will have to be some tough decisions on staffing and services.

ABC staff in the national broadcaster's Sydney headquarters have been warned to beware of people tailgating them through security, after an incident where an intruder was found in the newsroom.
 

When staff returned to work after a fire alarm on Monday morning, journalists found an unidentified man sitting in the newsroom.

Other employees reported seeing the young man in the staff toilets before the alarm was set off.

When questioned by one of the newsroom staff, the stranger admitted that he had sneaked in because he was looking for a job.

The Shadow Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland, says Labor has committed to reversing the Liberals’ $83.7 million cut to the ABC, as well as guaranteeing stable funding over the next budget cycle.

Labor says a question mark continues to hang over the Enhanced Newsgathering Program funding for the ABC which was introduced by Labor in 2013, then cut back by the Liberals.

Funding runs out in only a few months and the Minister has not confirmed whether it will be continued.
 

Comment from Peter Saxon

David Anderson is this afternoon appearing before the Senate, Environment and Communications References Committee into allegations of political interference in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The Committee has also grilled other ABC staff regarding interference from former Chairman Justin Milne.