Policy wonk Rudd’s grand vision for regional diplomacy: The Australia Network

But the most critical aspect of Rudd’s hands-on management style is his intention to become very much involved in programming and in particular the whole news production cycle. Australia Network will now have to supply Rudd’s department with regular, detailed, breakdowns of how each news, current affairs and business program is produced and how this supports the Government’s regional public diplomacy objectives. Rudd also wants program schedules vetted to ensure that they represent an “intelligent mix of the best of Australian content”.

This and other interventionist powers which Rudd can exercise if he feels the network is not meeting government standards have sent a shiver through the ABC over their potential to undermine the integrity and independence which the corporation jealously covets under its charter.

When Rudd became Foreign Affairs Minister the Friends of the ABC congratulated him expressing its strong views that Australia’s best interests would be served if the international television service remained under the wing of the national broadcaster. And as a result it would be a waste of public resources to require the ABC enter into a competitive tender process in order to continue to provide this service throughout the region.

One can only imagine how they would react to the spectra of the Foreign Minister peering over the shoulders of ABC journalists and editors as they prepare news broadcasts. Or is this a bitter pill that they and ABC management would be prepared to swallow to avoid the alternative, which is for this service to go to private enterprise.

“It would be totally inappropriate and contrary to the public interest for a service that represents, and is of such strategic importance, to be provided by a company with foreign interests, or a private operator driven by commercial imperatives or which may have political agendas,” the ABC’s Friends told Rudd.

Perish the thought that the pristine corridors of the ABC could manifest any political agenda.

Meanwhile several signals that a decision on Australia Network’s future was imminent have, not surprisingly, turned out to be false alarms. With the ABC’s current contract to run the network due to expire on August 8 there are now suggestions from sources close to the tender process that the matter will go up to Cabinet before the end of the month. But maybe with so many other issues on the plate of our globe trotting Foreign Affairs Minister this will turn out to be another false alarm.