Ron Brunton

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Dr Ron Brunton is an Australian anthropologist. He is currently the Director of Encompass Research Pty Ltd and was a Director of the Board of the public broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for a five year term from 1 May 2003.

Prior to his appointment to the ABC Board, he was:

a fortnightly columnist for The Courier-Mail from 1997 - 2003;
a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs, a right wing think tank from 1995 - 2001, and
a contributor to the conservative literary and political journal Quadrant.

In his articles, Brunton has been highly critical of the Bringing Them Home report on the stolen generations.^[1] He has also written scathing criticisms of both the High Court's 1992 Mabo v Queensland decision and the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. In addition, he enunciated the view that the "secret women's business" of the Ngarrindjeri women during the Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy was a fabrication, and came to the defence of the murdered Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn who called on Muslim immigrants to assimilate into Dutch society and culture. Prior to his appointment to the Board he was a harsh critic of the ABC itself, accusing it of being part of the "left establishment" and of being a "sucker" for "brainless comment".

Brunton's appointment to the ABC Board by the Australian Government of John Howard^[2] created controversy given his ideological partisanship.^[3] However, it continued that government's attempt to move the ABC culture to a political position more amenable to its own.

Encompass Research Pty Ltd is stated to be an organisation engaged in anthropological and socio-economic research, concentrating on native title, indigenous heritage, immigration and environmental issues.

Dr Brunton has published a range of research papers and books on anthropological issues and has lectured in anthropology at universities in Australia and at the University of Papua New Guinea. He has also stood as an expert witness in a number of native title court cases across Australia, having been engaged by parties involved in native title litigation.