You are invited to hear Quentin Dempster speak about
The Challenges Facing the ABC.
• the persistent and dangerous threats to Our ABC, in particular from News Corp organs, and the consequent threat to our democracy;
• the impact of 10 years of funding cuts to the ABC;
• the “…undermining of the ABC, both politically and psychologically.” (quote from Quentin’s email to ABC Friends: “The ABC is suffering”, 22/5/24);
• ABC management’s role in supporting its staff.
Quentin will address our group at 11.00am. He will happily engage in a Q and A after his presentation. Please invite your friends to this sure-to-be stimulating event!
11 am on Saturday 9 November 2024
Wentworth Falls School of Arts
217-219 Great Western Hwy
Wentworth Falls, NSW 2782
Quentin Dempster worked at the ABC for 30 years (1984-2014) as a political and investigative reporter, TV current affairs presenter and interviewer. In 1986 he wrote and produced The Sunshine System, a television documentary about institutionalised corruption in Queensland. Before joining the ABC, he was chief political reporter and columnist for the Brisbane Telegraph. Quentin is a former staff-elected director of the ABC (1992-1996) and former chairman of The Walkley Foundation. He has written three books: Honest Cops (1992), Whistleblowers (1997) and Death Struggle – how political malice and boardroom power plays are killing the ABC (2000). In 1992 Quentin was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to journalism and current affairs.
Please RSVP here https://www.abcfriends.net.au/quentin
Enquiries: Sue Noske (0421 020 610) or Sue Bate (0409 744 196)
Our 2024 Annual General Meeting will be held at 10 am on Saturday 9 November in the
Wentworth Falls School of Arts
217-219 Great Western Hwy
Wentworth Falls, NSW 2782
We hope you can make it along to our final branch meeting for 2024, on Saturday, 12th October, at the Mid-Mountains Neighbourhood Centre, 9 New Street Lawson, at 10.00am. Our regular raffle offers great prizes and is an important fundraiser for our branch. Friends of ABC Friends are most welcome to join us!
Have a look at the October 2024 Newsletter for information about our AGM in November.
The NSW/ACT state branch is organising a webinar to discuss the growing problem of misinformation in political advertising; titled Truth in Political Advertising.
Unlike commercial advertising, truth in political advertising has no legal protections outside of South Australia and the ACT. The importance of truth, and absence of misinformation, cannot be underestimated as a key factor for protecting our democracy and optimal electoral outcomes. This webinar will provide contributions from three speakers (Zali Steggall, Ullrich Ecker & Geoffrey Watson) who are each making valuable contributions to this issue and will be expertly moderated by a highly experienced journalist (Anne Maria Nicholson).
While this webinar is free and open to all, you will still need to register beforehand at https://www.abcfriends.net.au/truth_webinar2024. Registration is available from 20 September.
Thankyou for any consideration you can provide on this matter. All the best,
Bruce Stevenson (Branches Coordinator; on behalf of NSW/ACT state committee)
For more details, please click on the following link.
ABCF Truth in Political Advertising webinar flyer
Our next branch meeting will be on Saturday 10th August at the Mid-Mountains Neighbourhood Centre, 9 New St, Lawson at 10.00am. We are very fortunate to have procured a compelling and engaging guest speaker, Ken Enderby, to address our meeting.
About Ken Enderby:
Ken Enderby is President of Climate Action BurwoodCanada Bay, a dynamic community-based group. He will share his insights about effective grass-roots activism, successful lettersto-the-editor writing (he even gets letters into The Australian!), the importance of the ABC in honest discourse about global heating and the need for climate action. He will also be pleased to take any questions about household energy-saving strategies and EVs. Ken has been a campaigner for peace, human rights and economic development for 45 years, working on projects in Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Up until his retirement in 2019, he was head teacher of Career Pathways at Bankstown TAFE, where he taught history, economics and politics. Since then, he has focused his attention on climate change and has been president of Climate Action BurwoodCanada Bay since 2021. He is also a mentor with Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project and a facilitator with Climate for Change.
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