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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 2 Hansard (5 March) . . Page.. 571 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

SBS provides a valuable service to both Canberra and the broader Australian community by enhancing the diversity of the viewing experience for us all and by catering specifically for various ethnic communities. For these reasons, we see it as appropriate to support Mr Hargreaves' initiative to advise the federal government of the Assembly's strongly held views on the value of SBS and the ABC to the Canberra community.

MR STEFANIAK (5.17): It is certainly important that we do get value for money and that any organisation is accountable. That being said, I do have some sympathy with the motion because you do get some quality shows on the ABC and SBS. I have not watched SBS as much as I would like, although my colleague Mr Pratt has indicated that he was a bit concerned when he came back from being in prison in Belgrade that SBS actually relayed the Serbian version of what happened to him. He feels a bit peeved about that. But, that being said, SBS certainly does have some quality shows. As my colleague Mrs Dunne said, the SBS was set up by a former Liberal government.

I do not agree with Ms Tucker on much at all, especially when we are talking about things like global politics and Australia being subservient to the United States. I think that she is mistaken on that. We are in alliance with the United States, but we are in no way subservient. Ms Tucker made a valid point about cultural subservience. American culture is very pervasive. One thing I do like about the ABC is the variety of shows it has. I am a great fan of good old English comedies. The series about Hornblower was an excellent show. The televising of rugby and women's basketball is absolutely great and a real community service.

Having a little block of the land out the back of nowhere but, luckily, reasonably close to the coast, the only station we can get is the ABC; it is on 810 down the coast. It has a fellow with a magnificent voice; that is probably why he was hired. In rural communities especially, that is often the only chance that people have of keeping in touch with the outside world.

I do not know whether the ABC does so any more, but it used to broadcast into Asia and one of the criticisms during the liberation of East Timor by Australian forces was that the service had been cut. It was a valuable service which was providing unbiased news in countries which otherwise doctored the news service at the whim of the regime in control at any particular time. It is a service that not only the ABC but also the American ABC and the BBC could provide. I think that it is important that governments continue to support the provision of such services, especially free Western democracies.

MR PRATT (5.20): I had not intended to rise to speak to this motion, but I shall for the record. In terms of SBS being accountable, I quite like SBS and I certainly like the ABC. They do provide good services to the community, although I do question why 75 per cent of the ethnic communities in this country do not watch SBS. That is a fact, as the latest ABS statistics point out.

Mr Hargreaves: They watch their bit of it.

MR PRATT: No, they do not watch any of it at all. That may go to the heart of whether the SBS is felt by the ethnic community to be fully serving their interests. You may also then question how the remainder of the Australian community feels about SBS in terms

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