The Federal Parliament has yet to pass a law ensuring five-year funding for the ABC.

If it doesn’t get passed, it leaves the national broadcaster open to cuts and threats should the government change.

Would a Coalition government return to crippling ABC budgets? Most likely if it follows past practices – and the Trump manual.

Last week, the US Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr ordered an investigation into public broadcasting writing:

“To the extent that these taxpayer dollars are being used to support a for-profit endeavour or an entity that is airing commercial advertisements, then that would further undermine any case for continuing to fund [National Public Radio] NPR and [the Public Broadcasting Service] PBS with taxpayer dollars.”

In the US the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a non-profit organisation created by federal law in 1967. It distributes funds to public media organisations like National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service.

NPR syndicates its programs to about 1000 stations mainly owned by local non-profits, school boards and universities. The PBS runs a free-to-air TV service concentrating on news and documentaries.

In Australia, the Liberals, goaded by News Corp mastheads, have never been fans of government-funded public broadcasting.

At a Senates Estimate meeting last year, ABC managing director David Anderson was asked: “News Corp are obsessed with the ABC, aren’t they?” He replied: “Yes, they are.”

Is this just about ears and eyes wandering elsewhere seeking quality away from commercials? Not according to Crikey’s Bernard Keane who reckons “the ABC and News Corp aren’t merely competitors — they are........

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