Kate Ellis (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

Last Wednesday, in Adelaide, I attended a community rally in support of our national broadcaster, the ABC. Now, that rally should not have been necessary. This speech to our national parliament should not be necessary because we know that, on the eve of the election, the Prime Minister made a very, very clear promise to the Australian public, and each and every one of those sitting opposite reflected that promise in their commitments to their local communities. The promise was, 'There will be no cuts to the ABC.' Well, haven't we seen that that word from the Prime Minister is not worth a thing, just like so many other of the promises and commitments to given to the Australian public, with over $40 million already having been stripped from the ABC's core budget after just one budget from those opposite.

We know that the Australia Network, our voice in the world, has been totally terminated, with the loss of some of the most experienced journalists that this nation has. But what we spoke about in the Adelaide rally last week was the impact that this will have in South Australia. We know that this could mean the direct loss of 110 local ABC jobs already, as well as another 40 in our local production industry. We need to be very clear in this parliament about the impacts of the vicious cuts from those opposite on the ABC. This is meant to be our national broadcaster, yet already we see that it is the smaller states that will disproportionately feel the pain of these cuts and have our voices silenced in national broadcasting.

Reports this week suggest the ABC's state based current affairs programs and some of its radio shows are also facing the axe. The future of programs on ABC Local Radio and Radio National are also up in the air. This is not just about jobs and it is not just about broken promises. It is not just about party politics; this is actually about our democracy, it is about our culture and it is about our culture being reflected in our broadcasting.

The ABC puts reporters where no other news organisations do. It tells stories that would not otherwise be told at all, and it makes news that matters—not just content that sells. The ABC is an essential part of Australia. More than a new service, it reflects who we are. It holds up a mirror to our culture. The ABC is of huge cultural importance to Australia. The role it plays in the arts, in reflecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, and in the national debate really matter to our country. The brilliant story of ANZAC Girls, which was recently shown, made in South Australia, may never have been told without the ABC. Like so many other stories, like so many other services in times of emergency, we know that the ABC is critical to this country, and Labor will stand up and fight for it.

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