Writer
Quentin Dempster
Quentin Dempster is a journalist, public broadcasting advocate and a director of ABCAlumni.net.
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Don’t be relieved by that ABC funding promise: it’s not what it seems
The Coalition has a demonstrated pattern of dishonouring election promises to the national broadcaster. Continue reading »
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Last chance saloon: ABC crucial to the survival of local TV production
A new report commissioned by the ABC reveals that the public broadcaster’s local productions contribute at least $744 million to the Australian economy. Continue reading »
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Under fire: Ita Buttrose goes into battle for ABC independence
For the current government “the enemy” appears to be anyone trying to hold that government to account — and right now, that’s the ABC. Continue reading »
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Expect to hear from Ita Buttrose as ABC faces uncertain funding future
It’s our ABC, but the national broadcaster remains at the whims of the government of the day, which headed by Scott Morrison is a long way from the friendly camp. Continue reading »
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Why can’t we agree on the powers needed for a Commonwealth Integrity Commission?
Ministerial discretion under the Westminster system as it is applied in Australia is a useful but corruptible power. Continue reading »
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Assange: Still waiting… for your right to know
We’re all still waiting … for your right to know. The right of the public in our democracies to know what’s really going on is being tested at this very moment at the Old Bailey in Merry England. Continue reading »
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Les Miserables – Killing the ABC in a time of national emergency
Empty chairs at empty tables … where my friends will sing no more. (Les Miserables – the musical). The departure of many of the ABC’s most experienced journalists, producers and presenters has immiserated the public broadcaster. Continue reading »
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The ABC’s five-year plan is spin for managed decline
Ita Buttrose and her ABC board have produced a glossy five-year plan to cover up the fact the ABC is in accelerating decline through Morrison government de-funding. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. BuzzFeed out: So much for diversity in Australia’s media
Two years after Australia’s competition watchdog green lighted the biggest consolidation of media ownership here in more than 40 years, the withdrawal of online start-up BuzzFeed has exposed its misjudgment. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. Let ‘er rip!: Snowy 2.0 project now an integrity test for Gladys Berejiklian
The New South Wales Berejiklian Government now faces an integrity test over the fast tracking of final approval for the Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro electricity project in Kosciuszko National Park. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. Catholic Church duplicitous and unaccountable in needs-based school funding says Malcolm Turnbull
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has detailed private conversations with a Catholic Church leader to substantiate claims that the church has been duplicitous and unaccountable in distributing taxpayer money within its school system. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. Google and Facebook versus News Corp/Nine as Australia’s newspapers are declared “terminal”
With Australians about to lose their local and metropolitan newspaper coverage the competition watchdog sent to the rescue is facing the prospect of litigation from tech giants Google and Facebook. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER supports Pearls and Irritations.
Pearls & Irritations has become an exploratory platform for thinkers and analysts out to both share their insights and knowledge and test themselves against an informed peer group. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. The Frankenstein effect – why whistleblowers are needed now, more than ever
If we’re not properly informed .. we can create monsters. This is called the Frankenstein effect. Whether you’re a taxpayer, a citizen, a consumer or a shareholder expecting to live in a free and fair society with peace and prosperity, you certainly need whistleblowers and the journalists prepared to seek out and publish their revelations. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. New nuclear arms race brings higher risk of global catastrophe
The world is at its highest risk of a global catastrophe in decades, thanks to an unpredictable resumption in the nuclear arms race. Veteran defence and security analyst Brian Toohey has warned that talk of war between the West, and China and Russia, along with brinkmanship with North Korea and Iran, has escalated the conditions Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. Press Freedom – thank god for Annika Smethurst’s underwear drawer
Thank god for Annika Smethurst’s underwear drawer…. that’s all I can say. Never in the history of Australia’s battered democracy has the secret state and its understandably paranoid intelligence agencies been exposed by the undergarments of a Murdoch reptile. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. Why the Libs cannot be trusted with the ABC..
2 March 1996. Journalist: The commitment to maintain (ABC) funding in real terms … does that stand?Senator Alston (on behalf of incoming Prime Minister John Howard): Absolutely. 6 September 2013. Incoming Prime Minister Tony Abbott: .. and no cuts to the ABC and SBS. These reassuring public commitments were soon exposed as lies. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. Berejiklian government in danger in NSW election
With just two weeks to go to the state election, a political dispute over Sydney’s Allianz stadium has galvanised New South Wales voters. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. The ABC is now fighting for its survival (Speech delivered on 7 February 2019)
In trying to defend the ABC as an institutional pillar of a fearless free media in Australia’s robust democracy, first, we have to confront paranoia.It comes in the form of constant Murdoch Press complaints that the ABC is biased and a force for “left wing” ideology.“All the ABC’s presenters are left wing!” columnists and ABC Continue reading »
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PM’s anti-corruption commission is a picture of impotence (The New Daily, 14.12.18)
No public hearings? Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s proposed Commonwealth Integrity Commission is deeply flawed in its current conception under the authorship of Attorney-General Christian Porter and the Attorney-General’s department. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. Mass media power plays and the death of Fairfax
The competition regulator ACCC has now green-lighted the death of Fairfax Media Ltd., the governance entity what has been a foundational influence on public interest journalism in Australia since 1831. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. Google vs News Corp in Australian algorithm war
It’s Google versus News Corp Australia in a battle over the way algorithms can be controlled to drive internet search engine traffic. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. A short history of the ABC. Part 2.
The Senate will be enquiring into political interference at the ABC. Quentin Dempster provides useful historical background to that inquiry. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. A short history of the ABC. Part 1.
The Senate will be enquiring into political interference at the ABC.Quentin Dempster provide useful historical background to that inquiry. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. ABC: Frontrunners to replace Justin Milne emerge (the New Daily, 27.09.18)
The Morrison government is to appoint a new ABC chairman immediately as fallout continues over the sacking of managing director Michelle Guthrie. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. Government moves ABC chair Justin Milne to the exit ramp (the NewDaily, 27.09.18)
The Scott Morrison government and the ABC board are moving to pressure ABC chairman Justin Milne to resign as soon as possible. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. Was there a political motivation behind ABC’s Michelle Guthrie sacking?
The unexpected sacking of ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie has raised one big question, among the many. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. ‘Because it’s wreck-able’: Anger mounting at decision to end Fairfax.
The proposed end of Fairfax Media as an entity governing the editorial output of The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review and regional newspapers has provoked mounting anger by some of Australia’s most prominent journalists. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. The new coalition that is really governing Australia.
There’s a new coalition governing Australia. On Thursday it was personal tax cuts and the contentious elimination of the 37.5 per cent tax bracket from 2024. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. Australia’s sledge hammer to crack foreign influence pedlars.
New laws to protect Australia’s democratic governance and economy are about to be determined, now with heightened fear about Chinese influence. Draft bills before federal parliament cover electoral funding, cybersecurity and espionage and a new enforceable regime of self-registration for transparency of foreign influence. Continue reading »
