My pleasure, and just in caseyou thought the U.S. had a mortgage...

Originally posted by Diver Dan

Thanks for getting us started Peejay. Some long shadows on those weekly candles. This one is for the ever gracious eaglebird, who is out cruising around somewhere...

My pleasure, and just in caseyou thought the U.S. had a mortgage on political controversy ... from the landof OZ, and Auntie ABC ...

"The AustralianBroadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia's national broadcasterfounded in 1929. It is currently principally funded by direct grants from theAustralian government, but is expressly independent of government and partisanpolitics ... Modelled on the BBC in the United Kingdom, it was originally financed by consumer licence fees on broadcasting receivers. Licence fees were abolished in 1973 and replaced principally by direct government grants, as well as revenue from commercial activities related to its core broadcasting mission. "

6/09/2013 Tony Abbott declares "Nocuts to the ABC or SBS".

19/11/2014 Mr Turnbull revealsthe combined funding reductions to the ABC and SBS would total $308 million ...this was their contribution to the “overall Budget repair strategy”.

Fromthe newmatilda.com " These cuts are not about saving money. They are aboutappeasing the hardline right wingers in the conservative think tanks, and onthe Coalition back bench. The ABC has become a bête noire for theopinonistas of the right, not because it is particularly left wing, butprecisely because it is so centrist. If your view of the world is basedentirely on what you can see from the troll caverns of the right wing shockjocks, it’s not surprising you’ll be angry with a public broadcaster thatengages with the 55 per cent of Australians who vote for Labor and the Greens. TheABC’s news coverage is scrupulously balanced, which means that the views of theLabor opposition are given roughly equal treatment to those of the Coalitiongovernment. Concepts of social justice and social democracy do get a look in,as do free market economics and the principles of smaller government. TheABC mostly covers climate change as the mainstream science that it is. Thisenrages denialists on the right, who would like the broadcaster to treat fringeconspiracies with every bit as much deference as robust, peer-reviewed science."

"In December 2015 it wasannounced that former BSkyB, Star TV and Google executive Michelle Guthrie would take over (as) managing director."

" In September 2018 it wasannounced that Michelle Guthrie had left the position of Managing Director,after "directors resolved that it was not in the best interests of the ABCfor Ms Guthrie to continue to lead the organisation". Mr Milne ... said Ms Guthrie's relationship with the Government "could have been better". "... I think the relationship between the ABC and Government is, on the one hand, difficult because of course we need to be independent from government, but it is an important relationship because the government funds us."

"Afew days before she was dismissed, Ms Guthrie handed the ABC’s board an 11-pagedossier on Justin Milne, who was chair at the time. It alleged he had encouragedher to fire journalists after senior government figures took issue with theirwork. Mr Milne denied the claims, but resigned three days after Ms Guthrieleft, because excerpts of the dossier were made public. In one of the leakedemails, Mr Milne told Ms Guthrie she should “get rid of” Emma Alberici. “Theyfricken hate her. She keeps sticking it to them with a clear bias against them.We are tarred with her brush. I just think it is simple. Get rid of her. Myview is we need to save the corporation not Emma.”

Ms Guthrie receives an out ofcourt settlement for $730,000, in addition to the $912,000 payout she receivedwhen she left the ABC.

"PrimeMinister Scott Morrison announces media veteran Ita Buttrose would replace MrMilne as chair of the ABC’s board. Her appointment came after a five-monthsearch for Mr Milne’s replacement, which cost taxpayers more than $160,000. MsButtrose was not on the shortlist ofcandidates eventually recommended to the government by an independent panel,but the Prime Minister said all the usual processes for appointing a new chairwere followed."

“Australianstrust Ita. I trust Ita. And that’s why I’ve asked her to take on this role”.

Thereis just one question that is on the tip of my lisp.

Ita,why bother?