Mark Latham on ABC Adelaide 891 with Joseph Thomsen  

THOMSEN: Where do you sit on funding for the ABC? 

LATHAM: I think the ABC is a much-maligned institution under this government. I mean they've stacked the board full of the Prime Minister's best friends, Peter Costello's best friends, a whole bunch of Liberal jobs for the boys but they're still complaining about the ABC and winding back the funding.

I regard the ABC as one of our vital national institutions. We should be proud of our national broadcaster and be building up its funding base, building up its standing in the community and opening up new ways in which its governance can be more democratic and open to public participation. And our Shadow Minister for Communications, Lindsay Tanner, has released a plan where we'd be ending the political appointments to the board. We'd want some public process so that the very best people can go on the board for the governance of the ABC instead of making it a political football.

There's a bear in there.
What can we hope from Mark Latham in government for the ABC? Bearing in mind the truism that all governments hate the ABC we are cautiously hopeful that a Latham government might be different.

Mr Latham spends a lot of time reading to small children, he has two small children himself and he must appreciate the importance of ABC children’s programs in the lives of young children.

Reading to small children is a great aim for all parents. Watching ad-free high quality programs with young children is just as important. Mark Latham’s ideals for our children sit strangely with the worlds of Networks 7, 9 and 10.

Good education is a high priority for all our children. Do we also want them to be entertained to death, captive to the marketplace? Or do we want them to learn about their world, to think for themselves and be stimulated by excellence?

If Mr Latham cares about the way our children grow up he will be planning to fund public broadcasting so that it can put the digital channels for kids and youth back on air, bring back BTN and schools broadcasting, and create good Australian drama for young, old and everyone in between.