‘The critics don’t deter us’: ABC managing director launches passionate defence of broadcaster

‘Any attempts to interfere with, or undermine, the independence of the ABC … must and will be resisted at all costs,’ says David Anderson. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

The ABC is an unbiased and “independent source of truth” and must not be undermined by political or commercial forces, the ABC managing director, David Anderson, has declared in a passionate defence of the public broadcaster.

In a book published on Thursday, Now More Than Ever: Australia’s ABC, Anderson outlined the breadth and depth of the ABC’s output and its “overwhelming” influence on Australian life, saying “the critics don’t deter us”.