Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

I need to respond to this because Senator Hanson-Young has misled this chamber and the members of the public who are listening to this broadcast. What she's saying about the grubby deals is not the case. Senator Hanson-Young is alluding to deals having been done for cuts to the ABC, but that is not the case. Let me put it on the record. In my discussions with the minister's office, at no time did we discuss cuts to the ABC budget, which is in excess of $1 billion a year. Let me repeat that—$1 billion a year! You know what I will do? I will talk to the Treasurer or the finance minister about that. That's not the portfolio of the communications minister. I will go to the person I need to talk to about it, at the right time, prior to next year's budget, and state my case as to why I believe that the ABC budget needs to be cut. So let me put it on the record: no cuts to the ABC budget.

Let's make another thing clear. Senator Sarah Hanson-Young made a comment that I was whinging about the treatment of One Nation on the ABC. No—I was talking about an edition of Australian Story that was about me. It was not fair and it was not balanced. That is what happened. I spoke to the minister about the ABC charter and stories needing to come across as fair and balanced. No-one would expect any less. That's common sense—that you need for something to be fair and balanced from anyone. It's pretty much in the ABC's manifesto now, at the moment, but it needs to be put there. They actually tend to agree with it themselves in their own manifesto.

So it is actually about making sure that everyone is aware of the need to be fair and balanced. I'm sure the Greens would feel that way, too, because they've just had a program done on them. It didn't look too good for them. But, anyway, I've copped it a lot longer than Senator Hanson-Young—for many, many years—so I know what it's like. So there's no problem about that. I have no problems. If you go back to my speech, if you were in the chamber, I actually complimented Steve Austin from ABC Radio Brisbane, who has given me a fair go. That's all I've asked of media. It's not my position here. They have their job to do; I have my job to do. So all I ask, no different to any other Australians, is to get a fair and balanced view. That's all that we ask.

Another point here is that we have called for accountability. It's not unrealistic to call for accountability. Why wouldn't you call for accountability? It is the taxpayers' dollars. Let me say again: $1 billion-plus a year. There is no accountability as far as what they are paying some of their commentators. It was on the record a few years ago that one commentator who is actually on television one night a week for one hour is actually getting paid in excess of $355,000 a year. Why shouldn't the wages of these people who are on $200,000-plus a year be exposed? We are. Everyone in this chamber is. The wages of heads of government agencies are recorded. The taxpayer is paying for it; why hide it? Why shouldn't it actually be out there on the record? 'Oh, no, there's nothing. We're not looking after anyone?' Oh, yes, we are. We've actually asked for an advisory council with a local on it that it is actually going to represent rural and regional areas—and not have someone coming from the cities that have no idea. If Sarah Hanson-Young has any idea, she would understand—

Senator Hanson-Young interjecting—

I do apologise, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young. It is a fact that here we have only 17 per cent of ABC funding going to rural and regional areas, and yet 35 per cent of the population is there. So they are not providing the right comparison, and they need to put the funding there. So what we are saying is: 'Hey, we care about you out in rural and regional Australia. You're not getting a fair deal for your dollars. We're trying to make them accountable to you so that they do their job properly.'

I notice that Senator Sarah Hanson-Young spoke about the SBS. The SBS is not even in it; never discussed the SBS—not intending to cut back their funding. Nothing at all with the SBS. So, again, misleading the chamber, telling people out there in the general public what One Nation is wanting to do. The Labor have had their go at it today, as well. So what I find is you actually have—

Senator Hanson-Young interjecting—

Both sides, the Greens and Labor, actually miss a lot. What I find is you don't have integrity. I'm sick of the political politics of this place. You actually have to lie, mislead the parliament and tell people things that aren't true. People want honesty in this place. If you are going to say something, if you are going to attack me or One Nation, do it with true facts. Don't try and win brownie points with the people outside—

Senator Hanson-Young interjecting—

by misleading people about the actual truth in this place. We've seen this many, many times.