Craig Thomson (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to talk about the local ABC radio on the Central Coast and to call for its services to be expanded. We have three hours of local ABC a day on the Central Coast. When you compare what they get in Lismore, Port Macquarie, the Illawarra, Bega and indeed here in Canberra, all of which have a similar population to the Central Coast—320,000 people live there—you realise that three hours is not enough.

We have a terrific presenter in Scott Levi, who does a great job in those three hours, but the people on the Central Coast want more. We want the ABC to fully resource the Central Coast and make sure that we get the full service. The Central Coast is not a new area. In 2005 it was recognised as an official area by the New South Wales Geographical Names Board. The New South Wales government declared the Gosford-Wyong area to be the Central Coast region, for planning purposes, in 2010. This Labor government along with the New South Wales government made sure that the Central Coast had its own area health service. The 2011 census recognised the Central Coast as a region for the first time. We have a tourism board now just for the Central Coast.

It is about time that the ABC recognised the Central Coast for the contribution it can make and made sure that we have the proper services. We need more than three hours of broadcasting a day. We need to be treated the same as other regional areas, the same as Canberra here in the ACT. We need the ABC to provide us with local service for our radio all day, every day.