Fed-up ABC boss Ita Buttrose says she will PROTEST if Sydney's lockdown laws aren't rolled back by December and says the pandemic makes her feel 'I no longer have any rights'

ABC chairwoman Ita Buttrose has slammed Sydney's lockdown and threatened to protest if life isn't back to normal by December.

The respected Australian media identity questioned if she still had any rights as a citizen during a keynote speech made at the Australian HR Institute's Public Sector Conference via video link last week.

The 79-year-old said she was concerned about how long Sydneysiders would remain under the stay-at-home orders enforced by the NSW Government. 

ABC Chairwoman Ita Buttrose (pictured in 2018) said it would be 'utterly unbearable' if lockdown orders were to continue until December

The well-respected media identity (pictured in 2014) admitted 'life hasn't been easy' during the pandemic and said she felt as if her civil rights had all but disappeared 

The former editor of Women's Weekly also revealed the pandemic made her feel stripped of her civil rights, The Australian reported. 

'In Sydney we are told the current lockdown might continue until December. That would be utterly unbearable; I think I would have to protest,' she said. 

Ms Buttrose said she only felt compelled to protest once before, when she marched on Parliament House in Canberra in 2011.

The ABC figurehead - who is also a long-time ambassador for Dementia Australia - rallied for increased government funding for dementia research and treatment. 

Only a few weeks ago, 3,500 angry Sydneysiders, as well as others in Victoria and Queensland, took to the streets to protest against lockdowns. 

The protesters in Sydney marched from Victoria Park to Town Hall on July 24, much to the displeasure of health officials who feared a super-spreader event. 

Only a few weeks ago around 3500 angry Sydneysiders, as well as others in Victoria and Queensland, took to the streets to protest against harsh lockdown restriction (pictured, police patrolling Sydney's CBD)

Thousands in Sydney marched from Victoria Park to Town Hall to protest the lockdown (pictured, a man is arrested by police at Sydney Town Hall on July 24)

Police struggled to contain the restless crowds who threw flowerpots at mounted officers and chanted while holding anti-vaccination and anti-lockdown signs.

In her 45-minute speech Ms Buttrose said she spent a lot of time thinking about how her civil rights all but ceased during the pandemic.

'And I know we have to all band together to beat Covid and we know that it's a killer of a disease and we're not vaccinated well enough,' the media doyenne said. 

'We all know the problems and we all know we have to get through this. And we will get through it, but it's not going to be easy.' 

Ms Buttrose previously confessed to feeling overwhelmed in Sydney's first lockdown early last year, when the whole country was shut down.

The 79-year-old revealed on Studio 10 last October that she had some 'dark moments' and at one point found herself bursting into tears. 

The protesters in Sydney marched from Victoria Park to Town Hall on July 24, much to the displeasure of health officials who feared a super-spreader event

The 79-year-old revealed on Studio 10 last October that she had experienced some 'dark moments' during the pandemic and at one point found herself bursting into tears

'I think it was just, it was just the impact of this odd world we were living in. But then you sort of think, "pull yourself together, Ita",' she added. 

Ms Buttrose said daily exercise helped clear her mind and kept her 'grounded', and her dog Cleo - named after the magazine she famously edited in the 1970's - kept her in great company. 

After her speech at the Public Sector Conference last week, the ABC issued a statement on her behalf.

'In that speech I spoke about the very serious issues we face due to the Covid-19 pandemic,' the statement read.

'I also made some lighthearted remarks to lighten the mood.

'They were delivered with a smile and were received by the audience with the humour they were intended.'  

Ms Buttrose (pictured at the Women of the Future Awards last year) has previously revealed daily exercise and her dog Cleo is what has kept her sane during lockdown

Prime Minister Scott Morrison appointed Ita Buttrose as chair of the ABC last year

Ms Buttrose left school when she was just 15 years old in 1957 to become a copy girl at the Australian Women's Weekly magazine.

She then became a reporter and later, the woman's editor for the Daily Telegraph.

The hard-working journalist was a founding editor of Cleo and the youngest ever editor of Woman's Weekly at just 33 years of age in 1975.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison appointed her as chair of the ABC last year.

On Monday, NSW recorded 478 new cases of Covid-19 and eight deaths, with 61 of the cases contagious in the community and the isolation status of 290 still under investigation.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced the 'disturbing' growth of cases as she revealed even an 80 per cent vaccination rate did not guarantee the easing of lockdown restrictions.

As of Saturday, a total of 15, 175, 199 vaccine doses have been administered nationwide, with 26.06 per cent of residents aged 16 and over fully vaccinated. 

In NSW, 26.92 per cent of residents have received both doses of a vaccine.  

Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on Monday that 80 per cent vaccination rates would not guarantee the easing of restrictions if case numbers remained high

NSW recorded 478 new locally-acquired cases of Covid-19 on Monday, with police officers from this week able to impose fines up to $5,000 for breaching public health orders

'Even if you get to 80 per cent double doses, if the case numbers are very high, it does limit what you can do,' the premier said.  

Ms Berejiklian said The Doherty Report - which is informing Australia's road out of the pandemic - advised removing social distancing rules only when the infection rate slows to 30 to 40 cases a day and the vaccination rate reaches 80 per cent.

'If case numbers are where they are now and we get to 80 per cent double doses, we won't be able to do everything that we want to do,' she said.

'We will need to live with restrictions so long as Delta is around.

'Even if we had zero cases and a high vaccination you would still have to respect rules that exist around vaccinations, around social distancing and around mask-wearing.'