Page 2996 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 15 August 2018
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We recognise on this side of the chamber that the ABC is among Australia’s most important public institutions. It is an essential part of Australian democracy and has been for almost 90 years. The ABC is the voice of Australia and acts as a vital source of information, entertainment and cultural life for our cities, our rural towns and our regional areas.
ABC Canberra has provided reliable, trustworthy news alongside engaging entertainment programming for 65 years now, and despite every effort of the federal Liberal government since the 2014 budget and the 2013 election, the ABC has remained one of Canberra’s most beloved institutions.
The ABC serves an essential role in our society. However, this role has sadly been diminishing over time. The federal Liberal government has cut $282 million from the ABC since 2014 and $83.7 million over the past year alone. This level of cuts has a real impact on the quality of programing—it means less Australian and local content and it means fewer dedicated reporters.
One of the first losses as a result of the Liberal government was the state version of 7:30 or what was previously called Stateline. That means there is no longer any in-depth analysis of community and ACT politics and local events on our televisions, other than, of course, the nightly news bulletin itself.
According to The Conversation, in the lead-up to the 2013 election the ABC contributed 49 hours of political public sphere programming in the final fortnight. By comparison, channels 7, 9 and 10 had only 36 hours of content combined. This dedicated coverage continues to be at risk every time funding is cut.
I think I can safely say that the broad population may be slightly less interested in political coverage than those us in this chamber, but the cultural programming is a vital part of what the ABC offers and its role in our society. We have lost shows like At the Movies, Lateline, The Checkout, the television version of Big Ideas and Good Game and many other locally produced Australian shows. Indeed, just yesterday the show Tonightly with Tom Ballard was axed as part of the latest round of cuts to ABC programming. It is particularly sad to see the regular version of Catalyst, the science show, going to a sort of special mode as a result of some of the cuts to the ABC.
In 2017 significant changes were made to the ABC’s radio broadcasting, with programs like Books and Arts being split into multiple programs which further reduce opportunities to provide audiences with an overview of the whole arts sector. Even women’s sporting leagues, which are today exploding in popularity, are being left behind by the ABC. They are also being affected by these cuts. It was anticipated in 2014 that budget cuts could mean that the ABC was at risk of losing coverage of the W-League and state-based AFL leagues, and I think the worst has eventuated.
The ABC can no longer provide coverage of the WNBL and the Shute Shield, which is the New South Wales rugby competition in which the Vikings have previously been a participant. Coverage of our women’s team in the W-League, Canberra United, has
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