Leader of the Opposition

5 July 1996

Mr Marshall Ahern
President
Friends of the ABC [NSW] PO Box 1391
North Sydney NSW 2059

Dear Mr Ahern

As you may have read in the press, the Coalition Governments is currently examining the ABC's funding arrangements. The Labor Opposition is now convinced of the veracity of leaked information that the Coalition's election promise to maintain existing levels of Commonwealth funding will be broken in a spectacular way, with ABC budget cuts of at least $50 million and up to $110 million.

Recent utterances by the Prime Minister, the Treasurer and the Minister for Communications and the Arts strongly support our view.

On 1 May 1996, the Shadow Minister for Communications, Senator Chris Schacht, asked the Minister for Communications and the Arts, Senator Richard Alston, to reaffirm the Coalition's election promise 'to maintain existing levels of Commonwealth funding to the ABC ...[and to] continue to support triennial funding...' The Minister would not reaffirm that commitment.

On 8 June, in an interview with Tony Eastley of The World Today, the Minister directly attacked the financial competence of the ABC Board. The Minister questioned the ABC Board's will to face up to the financial difficulties the organisation was facing without government prodding, and suggested that its 'very bloated' budget could sustain a 10 per cent cut without a reduction in efficiency. Senator Alston also attacked the ABC's programming priorities, saying that 'It's all very well to win awards, but if no one's watching, then you've got to ask yourself: Should we really be producing these programs?'

The Prime Minister has also attacked the ABC's programming on a number of occasions recently. For Example, on 17 June Mr Howard told Fran Kelly on the AM program that the ABC was 'politically correct to a fault' and that 'there tends to be a concentration around one particular point of view.' Mr Howard would not rule out the possibility of a review of the ABC's charter.

On 22 June, the Treasurer, Mr Costello, was reported to have singled out the Audit Commission's criticism of the ABC for special mention pointing to 'a lack of accountability as to how the ABC spends taxpayers' money.' (The Australian p7).

The following day, Paul Daley reported (The Sunday Age, p1) that Government sources had revealed that the Federal Government was considering cutting the ABC's budget by more than $100 million, which would amount to about one fifth of the ABC's annual funding.

The Labor Opposition has heard strong rumours that the Treasurer, Mr Costello, is proposing a $110 million cut. The 'bottom line' compromise figure is rumoured to be between $50 million and $100 million.

Taken together, the comments of the Prime Minister, Mr Costello and Senator Alston clearly signal an intention to mount a massive attack on the ABC. The Labor Opposition believes that all of the comments about financial mismanagement, lack of accountability and programming policy are part of a campaign to soften up the public for huge budget cuts.

A cut of an amount anywhere in the range from $50 million to $110 million would be the largest single budget reduction in the ABC's history, and would mean the end of the ABC as we know it. Such a cut would result in a dramatic reduction in ABC programs and services, together with significant retrenchments of staff in all States and Territories. The chair of the ABC has indicated that a budget cut of $50 million would mean major cutbacks to output, such as:

• a significant reduction of Australian content on ABC television including drama, documentaries and educational programs
• closure of State-based production, including local news and sport
• radical cuts to the number of hours broadcast per day. ie television transmission hours
• closure of at least one of the three national radio networks, either ABC-FM, Radio National or Triple J
• a significant reduction of local and regional programming, including closing metropolitan, regional and local stations
• cessation of a range of specialist programs on ABC radio such as rural, religious, science and arts programs
• abolition of regional services of Radio Australia, for example, North Asia, South East Asia or the Pacific, or closure of a number of ABC overseas bureaux.

Cuts of an even greater magnitude, such as the rumoured $110 million cut, would have vastly greater impact in all of these areas. Rural and regional Australia would be particularly affected by the inevitable cessation of local and regional programs such as the specialist early morning farming programs.

It is vitally important that the Friends of the ABC respond quickly to this impending threat to the survival of the ABC. We ask all ABC supporters to lobby all Liberal and National Federal MPs and demand that they keep their election promises about ABC funding. Action after the Budget will be much less likely to achieve results.

[signed] KIM C BEAZLEY Leader of the Opposition

[signed] CHRIS SCHACHT Shadow Minister for Communications