Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At the request of Senators Brown and Bushby and the Leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Milne, I move:

That the Senate—

(a) records its disappointment at the decision by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to close the Tasmanian television production unit;

(b) notes the ABC's obligations to capture cultural diversity and local programming;

(c) calls on ABC Managing Director, Mr Mark Scott, to reverse his decision and reinstate the Tasmanian television production unit;

(d) expresses its disappointment at the loss of 17 highly skilled jobs in the Tasmanian television production unit; and

(e) records its concern with the continuing centralisation of ABC production in Melbourne and Sydney.

Question agreed to.

Mr Deputy President, I seek leave to make a short statement.

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am disappointed to see yesterday's announcement by the ABC General Manager, Mark Scott, of the closure of ABC production unit in Tasmania. I have repeatedly called upon Mr Scott to guarantee the production capabilities in Tasmania during a number of Senate estimates hearings. Mr Scott's answers have been deliberately evasive, and it appears that there has been a determined strategy by piecemeal removal of shows and segments to destroy ABC production capacity in Tasmania, with the aim of the complete shutdown of ABC production in Tasmania.

The Australian people expect that the rich stories of all Australians are told by the national broadcaster. The decision to shut down production in Tasmania is a failure to uphold one of the basic obligations of the ABC. We are a diverse nation and it is fundamental to our cultural identity that the stories of our home state are told through the ABC.

Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy President, I seek leave to make a short statement.

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Leave is granted for one minute.

I join with my colleagues on this, and I am sure I speak for all Tasmanian senators in the chamber—but not just Tasmanian senators; I acknowledge the fact that the minister, Senator Conroy, has asked the ABC to reconsider this position as well. I am also reminded by my colleague Senator Ludlam that, while there are resources being taken out of Tasmania at the moment with the loss of 17 jobs, it is also happening to other regional centres around Australia. We have ended up with only a couple of other locations in Australia outside Sydney and Melbourne where ABC production continues. I just want to indicate that the Greens are going to be doing everything we can to have this reversed. We have spent money with Screen Tasmania on the Goodwood facility; we have a perfect production facility in Tasmania that will be underutilised, and in the age of digital content we need the production facility in Tasmania.

Question agreed to.