ABC's Liberal cadres 16 May 2002

Michael Kroger (Opinion, 15/5) asks why it is not possible for someone sympathetic to the Coalition to hold down an ABC presenter's position. Well, a number have:

Peter Collins, former leader of the Liberal Party in NSW, was an on-camera reporter for This Day Tonight, and Pru Goward, appointed to head the Office of the Status of Women in 1997, was a high-profile Canberra-based presenter for ABC radio.

Cathy Job, a presenter for ABC radio in Brisbane, became media adviser to David Kemp, while Vicki Thompson, a high-profile political reporter for the ABC in Adelaide, became Premier John Olsen's chief of staff.

Jim Bonner, after leaving the staff of Malcolm Fraser, held senior editorial positions with ABC radio and television in Canberra and Adelaide.

Others include former ABC journalist Ken Crooke, who was state director of the National Party in Queensland for 13 years; Gary Hardgrave, minister for citizenship and multicultural affairs in the Howard Government, who worked as a reporter for The 7.30 Report in Brisbane.

Darce Cassidy
National Spokesperson
Friends of the ABC