Thursday 20 November 2014

ABC and SBS funding to be cut by $308m over five years

Extract from The Guardian

Malcolm Turnbull says the Coalition’s budget cuts to the public broadcasters should not affect what Australians see and hear
Australian Broadcasting Corporation ABC
The ABC is set to lose $254m, but Malcolm Turnbull says it will make the public broadcaster stronger and more modern. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/AAP Image

The budgets of the ABC and the SBS will lose almost $308m over five years, but it should not affect what Australians see or hear, communications minister Malcolm Turnbull says.
“Let me be quite clear,” he said at a Liberal party event in Adelaide on Wednesday. “The savings announced today are not of a scale that requires any particular change to programming.”
Turnbull’s claim is certain to be directly contradicted by ABC managing director Mark Scott when he announces cuts to programs, services and jobs early next week.
Turnbull confirmed the ABC would lose $254m and SBS $53.7m as part of the Coalition’s savings drive, but he said the public broadcasters would emerge stronger and more modern from the process. 
“To put this in context, the funding proposal will reduce aggregate government funding to both national broadcasters over the five years from 2014-15 to 2019-20 from $6.9bn to $6.6bn,” Turnbull said.
“A total reduction in commonwealth expenditure of 4.4%. The government provides the ABC and SBS with the majority of their funding but it has no power to direct the broadcasters in relation to operational matters. Decisions regarding which efficiencies will be implemented, and when, are matters for the ABC and SBS boards.”
Turnbull said he would introduce legislation to allow SBS to run more advertising. The more flexible rules would let SBS run up to 10 minutes of advertising an hour in prime time.
In a surprise move Turnbull outlined several ways he wanted the ABC’s governance to change, including adding an independent chief financial officer, reporting to the board.
He also proposed to separate the role of managing director from editor-in-chief. The current situation, he said, “creates the impression that the managing director is directly in charge of ABC news and current affairs, which he is not”.
“But it is widely thought (including by many people who either write to me or write about me) that the minister is responsible for ensuring that the ABC’s news and current affairs is accurate and impartial.
“The government does not and should never have any control over the news and current affairs of the ABC or SBS. Mr Putin’s model of media management is no more admirable than his foreign policy.
“But their boards are responsible for their objectivity and accuracy. I have on occasions heard directors say they do not want to get involved. Well, if they do not want to get involved they should resign. The board of each broadcaster has that responsibility and must discharge it, and be seen diligently to discharge it.”
Mark Scott said the cuts amounted to an 8% annual cut in funding coming as they did on top of the 3% reduction in funding through the termination of the Australia Network work contract and the efficiency cut imposed in the May budget.
“The government has indicated to the ABC that the additional budget cuts determined by the expenditure review committee amount to a four-year cut of over $200m, with a $20m cut in 2015-16, rising to $61m in 16-17; $55m in 17-18 and $68m in 18-19,” Scott said in a statement.
“The funding cuts ramp up over time, as the government has allocated no funding for the cost of inevitable redundancies, which will need to be covered by the ABC from its current allocation and asset base.”
“I also note that in his speech, the minister conceded that it, in the end, it is the Australian people who will judge whether they are getting value for money from the national broadcaster. That view is already clear: in the latest annual ABC Appreciation Survey, conducted by the independent company Newspoll, 84% declared the ABC was performing a valuable role.”
Scott said staff would be briefed via a national hook-up on Monday.
The Community and Public Sector Union said it was a sad day for all Australians who valued the ABC and SBS.
“The Abbott government has betrayed voters by breaking its promise to not cut the ABC and SBS, the union’s president, Michael Tull, said.
“These cuts are twice the size of already damaging efficiency dividends imposed on other government departments like the tax office and bureau of statistics.”
“It is frankly gutless of Malcolm Turnbull to shun responsibility for these cuts and pass the buck to ABC management. There is no way that cuts of this size can be confined to ‘back office’ savings. Make no mistake, programming, services and jobs will have to be cut to accommodate these cuts.
“Malcolm Turnbull can dress it up any way he likes but this is a blatant Liberal party attack on one of Australia’s best-loved and respected institutions.”
Turnbull insisted the cuts could be made without resorting to axing programs.
“If the management of the ABC think they cannot find a 5% saving through efficiencies, they are selling themselves short and letting down the people of whose resources and trust they are the custodians,” he said.
SBS managing director Michael Ebeid said SBS was already extremely lean and the “sizeable” cut of $53.7m would “naturally be felt by our organisation”.
“The government will provide $287m to SBS in 2014-15 which represents 75% of our organisation’s total funding, with 25% generated from our own commercial revenues,” Ebeid said. “SBS operates on one-fifth of the average budget of the other free-to-air broadcasters.”
Opposition leader Bill Shorten is concerned the cut will see the demise of his ‘zinger’ segment on satirical show Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell.
“Is it Peppa Pig going to get cut? Tony Jones going for the chop? Bill Shorten’s zingers on Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell? I tell you, Shaun Micallef, I’m as mad as hell, and I will fight for your show,” Shorten told reporters in a tongue-in-cheek response to a question on the funding cuts.
Comedy news show Mad as Hell is in its fourth season, and features a segment on Shorten’s idiosyncratic speaking style, known as zingers.

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