Page 173 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 10 February 2016
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estimated that 10 per cent of people living in Canberra and the surrounding area are print handicapped. That means potentially a daily audience of 30,000 people, not an insignificant number of our community.
Sitting as it does on the AM frequency at 1125, 1RPH sits between popular commercial radio stations, so it is easily located and draws listeners from outside the specific demographic it is designed for. It also has a significantly powerful signal that allows it to broadcast to areas outside Canberra.
Many illnesses prevent a person from easily reading the printed page, including by making it impossible for them to turn pages or hold and manipulate books, newspapers and magazines properly. Some people may only need the services of 1RPH for a short time. For others, it is their only way of learning what is in the news and making news.
The choice of program is wide. The program includes readings from daily newspapers, magazines and books; themed programs on topics such as books, music, gardening, religion, current affairs, health, science, computers and travel; program time for others who provide services of interest to the print handicapped, including blindness organisations, the ACT library service, the ACT MS society, the Council on the Ageing, the RSPCA, heraldry and genealogy organisations, and war veterans; and Christian programs which cover a wide range of publications from a variety of Christian churches. It also provides the BBC World Service.
The quality of 1RPH’s work is such that in 2008 it was awarded the community media of the year award by the Public Relations Institute of Australia. In 2009 the service was extended to Wagga Wagga, and in 2012 a further development was delivery of its services to people in the Junee area.
I find the government’s arguments—Dr Bourke has touched upon a number of those arguments—against continuing support for such a worthy organisation somewhat troubling, especially when you consider some of the priorities that this government has and where it puts significant amounts of money. We all know that governments have to make tough choices, and that not every worthwhile activity can be supported. But if we look at the priorities that exist here in Canberra, we will see that it is very important that 1RPH be supported.
It is indefensible to deny any funding to 1RPH—we are talking, at best, as Mrs Dunne has mentioned, of funding around the $38,000 mark—while at the same time we have given many hundreds of thousands of dollars to a sporting group whose players number in their hundreds at their most ambitious count. Of course, I refer to the Chief Minister’s peculiar fascination with and support for beach volleyball. That is, frankly, indefensible when we look at where the priorities of this government should lie and the number of people involved. A number of our colleagues on the other side talk about disadvantage; they talk about people with disability; they talk about people who really need our help. Over $500,000 has gone to a sport that has roughly 120 people. When we compare that to what we are talking about in relation to this motion that Mrs Dunne has brought before us, I cannot help wondering whether this particular group in our society is just unlucky when it comes to support from the Chief Minister.
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