"The ABC will always be in public hands. It will never be sold. That is my commitment. It is a public broadcaster. It always has been and it always will be," Mr Turnbull told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

The prime minister's comments came minutes after he was forced to abandon a press conference to block attempts by the federal opposition to bind parliament to keeping the ABC public.

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus sought to move a motion in parliament resolving the lower house would "never support the privatisation of the ABC", and for an $83 million funding cut to be reversed.

Mr Turnbull and Trade Minister Steve Ciobo were forced to desert European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom in the middle of a press conference in order to block debate on the motion.

Members of the Liberal Party's federal council voted unanimously in Sydney on Saturday to privatise the ABC.

Labor's Senate leader Penny Wong said the coalition couldn't be trusted to protect the public broadcaster, citing Tony Abbott's 2013 broken commitment of "no cuts to the ABC".

But Communications Minister Mitch Fifield emphatically ruled out selling off the ABC.

"The ABC will not be privatised," Senator Fifield told parliament.

"The ABC will always be owned by the government on trust for the Australian community."

Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals leader Michael McCormack said his party did not want a privatised ABC.

"From providing cricket coverage to those driving Australia's long highways ... the ABC is a crucial and much-loved institution in the regions," he said.

"The ABC should have a legislated obligation to provide coverage to rural and regional Australia."

He underscored coalition efforts to ensure the ABC Board always had at least two members from the regions.

In a pointed dig at the coalition, Labor leader Bill Shorten tweeted: "The Australian people pay for the ABC. It's theirs, not yours."

Australian Associated Press