Mr McCormack said the Nationals have no intention of ever supporting the privatisation of the ABC, in stark contrast to a two to one vote of its coalition partner’s annual council in Sydney. 

The deputy prime minister said the ABC provides an invaluable service to rural and regional Australians.

“From providing cricket coverage to those driving Australia’s long highways, to its dedicated coverage of the agriculture sector on The Country Hour, as well as its role in supporting emergency services during natural disasters, the ABC is a crucial and much-loved institution in the regions,” he said.

“The Nationals believe the ABC should invest more of its staff and resources into rural and regional Australia.

“We also believe the ABC should have a legislated obligation to provide coverage to rural and regional Australia.”

Liberal members will be "emboldened" to sell the ABC if the party wins the next election, federal Labor is warning.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten told the ABC that prime minister Malcolm Turnbull will come under immense pressure to go further, if he wins the next election.

"We've got this highly implausible fairytale where Mr Turnbull says I'm not really with them," he said.

"Well, he'll be the Liberal candidate for prime minister. If he gets another chance as prime minister after an election, the Liberal Party will be emboldened and they will sell off.

"This idea that somehow Mr Turnbull and the Liberal Party are two separate entities, two complete strangers sitting at a bar talking to each other, is rubbish."