TONY JONES: All right, Mark Latham, a question on something you haven't talked about yet. The ABC, close to our hearts here obviously. There's a feeling you mightn't be as big a fan of public broadcasting as some of your predecessors. I want to see now if you'll rule out under a Latham government making the ABC move to take advertising?

MARK LATHAM: Yes, I can rule that out. I'm a fan of the ABC. I cut my political teeth here on Lateline, you see, I'm your proudest product. Debating Christopher Pyne all those nights made me Labor Party leader.

TONY JONES: Ladder of success?

MARK LATHAM: The ladder of success through Lateline. I'm a fan of the ABC. And we've announced some ideas about making it more independent, particularly in the board appointments, and quite frankly we want to see public broadcasting as a major institution in Australia rather than something that's run down in terms of funding and loss of independence. So I'm a fan, a supporter. I think we're going to have a policy that's very good for the institution. It is one of our most important national institutions and we need to respect it.

TONY JONES: Would it be letting anything out of the bag to say you have in mind a funding boost?

MARK LATHAM: We have in mind some grand plans for the ABC. As long as you know that, we can all go home happy. And this fine institution, which quite frankly, had too many political appointments when we were in government, and the Howard Government have been even worse. So let's get some of the politics out of the ABC, rebuild its independence and its capacity to service the Australian media consumers who really look to it as a fine institution. [It has] always done a good job and we need to keep that up for the future.

Lateline transcript ABC Online 8apr04

PM praises Lateline!

Channel 2 is running cheery promos for Lateline by the PM and the Treasurer.
With bi-party support like this Tony Jones must be a shoe-in to host The Great Election Debate.