PRESS RELEASE

ABC Chair, Ita Buttrose, calls for press freedom reforms

17th June 2022

The ABC Chair, Ita Buttrose AC OBE, has called for stronger press freedoms in Australia and greater protections for public interest journalism.

Giving the 25^th annual Andrew Olle Media Lecture in Sydney on Friday 17 June, Ms Buttrose said Australia’s slide from 25^th to 39^th on the Global Index of Press Freedom was “simply not good enough.”

She said Australia could improve its press freedoms with reforms that protected whistle blowers; a commitment that national security would not be used as an excuse to avoid disclosing uncomfortable truths; and reforms to defamation laws to protect journalists.

“Freedom of information processes should not be stalled or undermined, court cases should not be secret, and no one should be allowed to avoid answering legitimate questions,” she said.

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“And of course, one of the most important ways to protect press freedom is the proper funding and certainty of funding for the ABC.

Ms Buttrose paid tribute to the work of both Andrew Olle, for whom the lecture series is named, and to the recently deceased Caroline Jones.

“There are lessons in Andrew Olle’s life and work for all journalists who wish to retain their potency and have maximum impact,” she said. Of Caroline Jones, Ms Buttrose described her as a “transforming figure in the male-dominated world of the ABC newsroom.”

“One of the most important ways to protect press freedom is the proper funding and certainty of funding for the ABC” – Ita Buttrose

“She was a champion of women in the media, and a beloved mentor to regional and rural women journalists who face particular obstacles in their careers,” she said.

Part of the lecture covered Ms Buttrose’s exceptional career in journalism, from working for Sir Frank and Kerry Packer then Rupert Murdoch, running her own media business and becoming Chair of the ABC.

She described the launch of Cleo magazine in 1972 as “perfect timing”.

“At the time, Australian women were thoroughly oppressed. There were no women in the federal House of Representatives. Women were not permitted to drink in ‘public bars.’  There were no anti-discrimination laws, no family court or no-fault divorce, no maternity leave, no single mother support and abortion was illegal without extenuating circumstances.”

She went on to land her ‘dream job’ as Editor of The Australian Women’s Weekly, before being poached by Rupert Murdoch to be the Editor-in-Chief of The Daily and Sunday Telegraphs. “He is a brilliant newspaperman and told me he wanted to make his newspapers less ‘blokey’ and more feminine. One year later The Sunday Telegraph outsold its rival The Sun-Herald for the first time and has never looked back.”

“Freedom of information processes should not be stalled or undermined, court cases should not be secret, and no one should be allowed to avoid answering legitimate questions” – Ita Buttrose

Ms Buttrose also spoke of her charity work, taking on the role in 1981of Chair of the National Advisory Committee on AIDS and becoming the public face of Australia’s HIV/AIDs campaign. She has also worked closely with Dementia Australia, serving as national president for four years and currently as patron.