Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The answer to the honourable senator's question is as follows:

(1) The ABC has successfully operated Australia Network and its predecessor, ABC Asia Pacific for ten years. Based on this record of achievement, the Corporation submitted a tender to operate the service for a further ten years on 25 March 2011.

However, in its response to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's (DFAT) June 2010 'Inquiry into Australia's International Television Service', the ABC submitted alternatives to a competitive tender process. The cost to the ABC to research and prepare for the short-term inquiry is estimated to be in the vicinity of $300,000.

(2) The ABC's submission to DFAT's inquiry into 'Australia's International Television Broadcasting Service' was submitted in July 2010. A redacted copy of this document, ABC Submission: Australian International Broadcasting Service is attached.

(3) See 2 above.

(4) The cost of submitting a tender to for the 2005 Australia Network contract was absorbed within the operating costs of the ABC.

(5) The on-going reporting and accountability requirements in relation to Australia Network are absorbed within the normal operating budgets of Australia Network and the ABC.

(6) The asymmetrical nature of the Commonwealth's funding Australia Network (via contract with DFAT) and Radio Australia (via the ABC's budget appropriation) imposes limitations on the ABC's flexibility to deliver international services on behalf of the Commonwealth. Under the current arrangements, it is impossible for Australia Network and Radio Australia to fully integrate because the funds allocated to Australia Network under the contract with DFAT cannot be used for any purposes beyond the strict limitations of the contract, which include Australia Network's television, online and ancillary services. Cooperation with Radio Australia is not a requirement of the contract.

The ABC has nevertheless achieved a level of cooperation between Australia Network and Radio Australia. This has included combining their news rooms in the ABC Asia Pacific News Centre.

The ABC believes, however, that there could be closer integration between the two services if both were funded through a single ABC budget appropriation with an appropriate consultative relationship between the ABC and DFAT that maintains the independence and integrity of the services.

(7) The ABC believes that it would be beneficial if Australia Network and Radio Australia were to operate as a fully integrated multimedia, multilingual service reaching audiences across the Asia Pacific region. The region includes a wide variety of audiences with different consumption habits and levels of technological development: from the Highlands of PNG, to the highly developed and connected cities of Japan and Korea, and with audiences at all stages in between. Therefore, the ability to fully integrate the resources of the two services would enable them to deliver content tailored for particular markets on the most relevant platforms, including: cable television, direct satellite television, personal computers, mobile phones, FM radio and short wave radio.