During the bushfires, the ABC saved lives. Literally saved lives. Without local ABC services, most communities would have been cut off from information. Without local ABC services, many of our firefighters would have been cut off from communication.

The ABC was established to survive, so we can access information, communication services and entertainment in Australia, even if everything else goes balls up. Even if we're all on fire & the economy collapses. It exists to help connect us & be a beacon in the dark.

It doesn't belong to the politicians, it's not for them. But ever since the Australian Broadcasting Act of 1942 put a firm line between the ABC and the Government - preventing them from using it as a tool for propaganda - the conservatives have been attempting to take it from us.

And I'm just so fucking sick of it. I love the ABC, not because it's perfect, but because it provides services and content nobody else would ever invest in. So much ABC content would get laughed out of a board room, because it won't be profitable, and that's the fucking point.

And more than that, they do make content that's enormously popular (see: ABC Life), that would usually cost us to access, and instead we get it for a few cents off a pay check. It's a fucking miracle that in spite of ceaseless budget cuts, they're still churning out great shit.

I've been angry about this for years. I could write a thesis about the 'Abbott years' alone. But the point is, we're gonna lose it. The ABC is supposed to survive us all and help us through our toughest times, and Morrison is murdering it, in front of us, like it's no big deal.

But I'm horrified. And I hope you are too. A lot of good people lost their jobs today, and we're all on the edge of losing something extremely valuable and vital to us as a country.