Communications Minister Helen Coonan has ruled out adopting a Labor proposal to give the federal opposition leader the power to veto candidates for the chairmanship of the ABC board.
A Labor government would ban the appointment of former politicians or political staffers to the ABC board and establish a panel to provide the communications minister with a shortlist of candidates for board vacancies.
Labor would also require the chairman of the national broadcaster to be jointly nominated by the prime minister and the leader of the opposition.
The proposal, which is similar to the board appointment process used for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), has been dismissed by Senator Coonan.
"This is a rehashed policy from the Labor Party from the last election with the only change being the idea that the opposition leader of the day would have a say in the appointments which is of course inappropriate - governments are elected to govern, not oppositions," Senator Coonan said.
"This government's first priority has been to ensure that the members of the ABC board have the right mix of skills to run a modern corporation with an annual budget close to $1 billion and we believe we have got that mix right."
Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd said his policy would help prevent governments from politicising the board of the ABC.
"I don't think the ABC should be the political plaything of either side of Australian politics," Mr Rudd told reporters.
"That's why I put the proposal forward."
Friends of the ABC national spokesman Alan Knight backed the Labor policy and said it should be extended to the board appointments of other national institutions.
Professor Knight said the policy would make board appointments more transparent and help put a check on the tendency by governments to act as if they owned national institutions.
"For a national institution like the ABC it's extremely fair to have the opposition leader having a say in who chairs the board, otherwise we could have a board which represents the personal or political interests of major political parties and not the national interest," Prof Knight said.
Community and Public Sector Union national secretary Stephen Jones also called for the Labor appointment process to be adopted for the more than 130 federal government boards.
"Public sector workers would warmly welcome the establishment of an arm's length panel, but it will have benefits for the whole community, too," Mr Smith said.
Australian Democrats senator Andrew Murray later said Labor clearly understood accountability was the coalition's achilles heel in this election year.
"John Howard thinks endless chattering about the economy is his strength. He forgets that Australians also want a fair go, a warm heart, and high standards," Senator Murray said in a statement.
"Whenever Labor focuses on integrity and standards it will get a positive public response. ABC board appointments are indeed a matter of public interest."