Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, upon notice, on 16 March 2011:

With reference to the tender for the Australia Network (Australia's publicly funded international television service provided by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), which is due to expire and be put out to tender again:

(1) What has been the cost to the ABC to prepare its case to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) that the Australia Network service should remain with the ABC and not be put out to tender when the present contract expires (provided in hours and dollars).

(2) Can a copy be provided of the ABC's submission to DFAT's inquiry.

(3) If, due to confidential information, a copy cannot be provided, can a copy be provided with confidential information deleted and an explanation on why such information should not be public.

(4) When the former Howard Government put the Australia Network out to tender, how much did it cost the ABC to compete for that contract (provided in hours and dollars).

(5) To date, how much has it cost the ABC to meet the reporting and accountability requirements (to DFAT and any other areas of government) that are required of the ABC to meet the terms of its present contract to provide Australia Network (provided in hours and dollars).

(6) Is the current or potential presence and influence of Australia's public international broadcasting weakened by the separation of Australia Network and Radio Australia that results from Australia Network being a separate service that the ABC is forced to tender to operate.

(7) Is the efficiency of Australia Network and Radio Australia weakened by their separation, given the potential to share more resources and content if they were both ongoing services of the ABC.

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to 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.