Dana Wortley (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of the answer of the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, particularly in relation to perceived—and I say perceived—bias of the ABC by members of the Liberal Party. In doing so, I refer specifically to the article published in the Weekend Australian where a Liberal senator complained about the ABC drama work-in-production Bastard Boys. It appears that members of the government are concerned that the drama of the 1998 waterfront dispute, in which the Patrick Corporation took on the Maritime Union of Australia over working conditions, will project a pro-union bias. Senator Fierravanti-Wells is quoted as saying:

This smacks of another example of wasteful spending by the ABC being used to drive an anti-government, pro-Left agenda, conveniently timed to appear during an election year.

Here we have a miniseries based on an event of some historical significance being produced by and to be aired on the ABC. The filming only started in July. I do not think the senator has had special previews or read the script, but I will stand to be corrected on this. Perhaps the senator sees it as a historical drama based on real-life experiences and that what will be shown will not reflect positively on the government. Perhaps the senator has a better understanding of recent history than the minister, who answered ‘no’ today when asked if she could confirm that the Maritime Union won the waterfront case in the High Court and that the government incurred more than $700,000 in legal costs. The minister was asked if she accepted that an accurate history of the waterfront dispute must reflect the fact that the union position was vindicated by the court. Perhaps the minister could improve her knowledge of recent Australian history by watching the miniseries. The ABC website says about the production:

BASTARD BOYS has been written with the cooperation and participation of all parties to the dispute. It is the first time participants such as former Patrick CEO, Chris Corrigan and ACTU Secretary, Greg Combet have agreed to tell their stories.

So here we have government members concerned about our Australian broadcaster producing a miniseries based on a recent historical event, with both sides agreeing to tell their stories. And we have a member of the Liberal government calling it biased, saying it is antigovernment and alleging it is being filmed specifically to highlight the government’s industrial legislation and that it will influence the outcome of the next federal election.

Today we have the Prime Minister opening a history summit and calling for a return to a more disciplined approach to Australian history teaching in schools. In opening the summit, he said:

I want to make it very clear that we—

the government—

are not seeking some kind of official version of Australian history.

It may all sound politically correct. In 1995, the Prime Minister, who was the then Leader of the Opposition, made a statement about the ABC board. He said:

You not only must have a board that is completely politically neutral, but it must be seen to be neutral.

We all know what history will show with regard to this statement. On this report card, the Howard government has failed on both points. Once again we are dealing with a government out of touch with the people of Australia—the people it is supposed to represent. What will it take for this government to realise that the overwhelming majority of Australians do not agree with it about the ABC and the government’s claim of left-wing bias?

The minister has seen the ABC annual report 2004-05 and so would be familiar with the research by Newspoll contained in it. This research revealed that 80 per cent of people believe the ABC provides quality television programming, while 84 per cent regard the ABC to be distinctively Australian and contributing to Australia’s national identity. And, just for the record, 82 per cent of people believe the ABC is balanced and even-handed when reporting news and current affairs. But members of the Liberal government continue to make claims of bias.

So what do they do? They appoint some extreme right-wingers to the board. They remove the staff elected director’s position from the board—the one position on the ABC board that the government could not fill, the government could not influence and the government could not control. Then the board intervenes to stop ABC Enterprises— (Time expired)