Margaret Reynolds, National President of ABC Friends will share her thoughts on why the ABC is so important during a zoom talk on Thursday 22 July, 6-7pm.

Janine Kitson, former Northern Suburbs of Sydney ABC Friends Convener, who is hosting the event says:

"Forty five years ago four friends met in a suburban living room in Turramurra.  They sat down, talked and then stood up and left the house determined to defend the national broadcaster. 

Attending the meeting was Faith Bandler who today is remembered for her work on the 1967 Referendum."

Corin Fairburn Bass will also speak at the zoom event and says:

"I fondly remember this 1976 meeting.

My late husband, Walter Bass, organised the meeting in our lounge room.  We invited our good friends and neighbours Faith and Hans Bandler to join us. 

At the end of the meeting, when we had stood up, Faith and Hans Bandler eagerly agreed to become foundational members of the ABC Friends.

We never foresaw that this meeting would lead to a national movement to defend the ABC.

There are now over 30 branches across Australia." 

Margaret Reynolds echoes this extraordinary connection between the NSW Bradfield electorate and the founding of the ABC friends and says:

“Today we need to celebrate that moment in time that changed a nation.

Reconnecting with friends of the ABC, in the Bradfield electorate, is doubly memorable for me because in 1983, as a newly elected senator, I visited Faith Bandler in her Turramurra home and together we reflected on our work together for the 1967 referendum.”

Janine Kitson will host this zoom talk as part of her campaign platform to restore the cuts to the ABC.  She intends to stand as an Independent candidate for the federal seat of Bradfield and says:

"I am proud to host this zoom event that celebrates the Bradfield electorate as the birthplace of a national movement of 'ABC defenders'.

I invited Mrs Reynolds to speak at a Turramurra hall on her visit to Sydney but this had to cancelled due to the Sydney Covid lockdown. I am glad we can meet by zoom."

The current federal member for Bradfield is Mr Paul Fletcher, who is also the minister responsible for the ABC. 

Registration is available via the link below or at www.bradfieldcandobetter.org     

CONTACT:  JANINE KITSON  0428 860 623