Liberal-led Senate inquiry into ABC and SBS abandoned.

 Extract from The Guardian

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Ita Buttrose previously branded investigation of complaints handling ‘an act of political interference’

A Senate committee has dropped its inquiry into the the complaints handling processes of the ABC and SBS.

Australian Associated Press

Thu 2 Jun 2022 15.52 AEST

Last modified on Thu 2 Jun 2022 15.55 AEST

A Liberal-led parliamentary inquiry into the complaints handling processes of the ABC and SBS will not go ahead.

The environment and communications Senate committee officially dropped its inquiry on Thursday after the completion of an independent review of the procedures.

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The inquiry into the public broadcasters was suspended in November last year after the independent review was announced.

Ita Buttrose, chair of the ABC, had previously described the Senate inquiry as “an act of political interference designed to intimidate”.

The Greens also condemned it as a partisan attempt to undermine the ABC’s independence.

The committee’s chairman, Liberal senator Andrew Bragg, wrote in a brief report tabled in parliament on Thursday that the ABC board had released details of its independent review on 17 May, which included the creation of a new position of ABC ombudsman.

“As a result of the ABC board adopting all of the review recommendations, and in particular the board agreeing to the establishment of an ABC ombudsman appointed by, and reporting to, the board, the committee has decided not to proceed with its inquiry,” he wrote.