Marielle Smith (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We live in a world not only where misinformation runs rife but where spreading it has become part of a business model. In the midst of a global pandemic, the spreading of misinformation is not only disingenuous; it is extremely dangerous—and it is everywhere. Misinformation is entrenching division, fraying communities when we should be sticking together.

Now, more than ever, trusted information—trusted news—matters. Yet in Australia, where we should rightfully be proud of the ABC and SBS, our national broadcasters, we see public broadcasting yet again under attack from this government. We've seen a politically motivated inquiry launched which has nothing to do with improving national broadcasting and everything to do with this government's obsession with secrecy and averting accountability. Of course, this is just the latest in a long line of attacks from the Liberals on our ABC; there was $83.7 million worth of funding cuts in the 2019-20 budget alone. This lot cannot be trusted with public broadcasting. Only Labor will back the independence of our ABC; only Labor will deliver a properly funded ABC, including funding certainty over five years instead of three; and only Labor will continue to fight for the communities which rely on public broadcasters as a trusted source of information on the ground in their communities.

It was only recently, during the Black Summer bushfires in my state, that we saw how much the ABC really matters to South Australians in times of crisis. During this pandemic, SBS was vital in ensuring in-language information went to communities who needed that information in order to be safe. The work of our public broadcasters truly matters, and that's why Labor will always defend it here.