Nick Xenophon (SA, Nick Xenophon Team) Share this | Hansard source

There are many things that Senator Leyonhjelm proposes that I am implacably opposed to. Some of them I find quite obnoxious, and he probably says the same about some of my ideas. This does not fall into that category. If the extent of the measure were that at a board meeting they opened it up to questions from the public about what they do—the terrific work that the ABC and SBS do—then I would not find that particularly objectionable. The method of it being negotiated may be unorthodox. I would imagine that at the next Senate estimates, if not earlier, we can hear from the ABC and SBS boards as to what their views of this are. If there is a real issue in respect of that then I suppose that would be a matter for further discussion. But this did not strike me as a deal-breaker in terms of requiring the ABC and SBS boards to meet with members of the public. It did not, on the face of it, strike me as an obnoxious idea. I am more interested in ensuring that the ABC and SBS have strong funding streams. The triennial funding needs to be expanded to either five-yearly or seven-yearly funding, a rolling funding basis, which I think would be more appropriate to ensuring the independence of the ABC and SBS, and there is the question of whether we look at funding models that are used for other public broadcasters, such as the BBC in the UK. In short, it is not a deal-breaker for me. It is something that is novel, perhaps a bit unorthodox, but I think requiring the board of the two major public broadcasters in this country to spend a bit of time taking questions from the public is not such a bad idea.