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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (25 June) . . Page.. 2069 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

my concern about mooted cuts, as they then were, to the ABC and urged him to comply with the re-election commitment in the policy statement on the arts to maintain and, indeed, restore appropriate local broadcasting services out of regional centres, in particular out of the ACT. Mr Speaker, that was a clear commitment we made and a clear commitment we were holding the Federal Liberal Government to.

I think a comparison needs to be made here. Can those opposite, can these newly discovered Friends of the ABC in the Opposition ranks, show me or this place, if they care to listen - Mr Corbell, I am sure, will listen very soon if he is interested in hearing about the progress of his motion; I hope Mr Corbell is listening to this, because I am issuing him with a challenge here - any evidence that he and his colleagues took steps, like the ones which I have just pointed to and which we took both in government and in opposition, to defend the ABC while the Federal Labor Government was in power? It was my letter. What steps did you take? (Extension of time granted) What steps can you point to - - -

Mr Whitecross: What about Rosemary Follett's protest against the cuts to TV?

MR HUMPHRIES: You protested against the cuts to TV? How did you protest against the cuts to TV, Mr Whitecross?

Mr Whitecross: You know we did.

MR HUMPHRIES: "You know we did". I am sorry; I do not know that you did.

Mr Moore: Gary, wind up.

MR HUMPHRIES: Thank you, Mr Moore. Who is the Speaker here? I am a bit confused. My impression, Mr Speaker, is that those opposite were conspicuous by the biting of their tongues on those issues and were not prepared to defend the ABC if the Federal Labor Government was acting to cut funding. Mr Speaker, taking the lead from Mr Moore, I move:

(Paragraph 1), omit "the Federal Liberal Government's decision to cut $55 million from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation budget", substitute "both the Federal Liberal Government's decision to cut $55 million and the former Federal Labor Government's cuts from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation budget".

I am prepared to support the motion that has been moved today; but I think it is appropriate to record that the Federal Liberal Government, conspicuously mentioned in this motion, has not been the only source of trouble to the ABC in the ACT and the level of service we are now experiencing from the ABC in Canberra is directly related to previous cuts made to the ABC by the Labor Party federally. We should reflect that in this motion, to make it complete and a true record of what has occurred in this place.

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