The conference heard from Quentin Dempster and Professor Alan Knight.

Quentin Dempster is a former Staff Elected Director of the ABC.  He was recently elected to this position by ABC staff for a second time, but shortly after the poll the federal government legislated to abolish the position.  He now describes himself as Staff Elected Director (in exile).

Quentin spoke about pressures on the ABC to take advertising, and to be involved in other commercial activities which have the potential to distort the ABC's public service values.  He also spoke about the campaign to bully and discredit the ABC with baseless claims of bias.

Professor Alan Knight spoke about the impact of new techologies on the ABC, and also touched on the possibility that the ABC may be pressured into charging for some types of content. His paper can be found here.

In other sessions the delegates discussed strategies for building community support for the ABC, and discussed strategies for raising the plight of the ABC as an election issue.

The delegates unanimously voted to appoint Professor Alan Knight as the National Spokesperson for Friends of the ABC.  His contact details are as follows.

Mobile 0448 194 512

Email knighta1949@gmail.com