Govt has no integrity on ABC: Shorten

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says the government has shown no integrity by going back on a promise not to make cuts to the ABC.

The ABC will be forced to operate with $254 million less in funding over the next four years after the government confirmed the slightly lower-than-expected budget cut on Wednesday.

"This is a government with no integrity," Mr Shorten told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday.

"There is no fidelity between itself and the Australian people when it comes to keeping the clear commitments they made at the last election."

Mr Shorten said Prime Minister Tony Abbott was not just cutting the ABC.

"He is laying waste to the moral basis of our public life.

"The ABC once used to mean the Australian Broadcasting Commission, it now means Abbott's budget cuts."