In this year's ABC Annual Report the board made a surprisingly forthright declaration:

The board . . has a legal duty to maintain the ABC's integrity and its independence. In doing so it must be able to assure the people of Australia, through the parliament, that the ABC's programs are not compromised by commercial imperatives. It must also be able to assure the parliament the ABC remains editorially free of political interference.

For as long as the media has been the dominant means of communication in Australian society, attempts have been made to exert influence over the ABC. These pressures are as old as the institution itself. Equally . . there is a capital of trust in the ABC that has been accumulated over the years. The board is obliged to see that trust preserved. Independence is both the essence of the corporation's legitimacy and the means by which that trust will endure. There need be no doubt about the independence of the corporation, nor any doubt about the integrity of its governance.