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

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes:

(i) the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is accountable to its charter, its board and the people of Australia,

(ii) editors and journalists, not politicians, should make editorial decisions in a democracy that values a free press,

(iii) 80 per cent of Australians surveyed believe the ABC is balanced and even-handed when reporting news and current affairs, and

(iv) the ABC and the Special Broadcasting Service are vital public news, information, education and entertainment services for the benefit of citizens and audiences rather than advertisers and shareholders;

(b) rejects:

(i) complaints about the ABC unfairly competing with commercial media as vindictive and misconceived, and

(ii) government interference in the editorial decisions made by the ABC; and

(c) calls on all parties to commit to maintaining the ABC as a well-funded public broadcaster with an independent board free from political interference.

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

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.

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government will not be supporting this motion. This government, like every government before it, has no power to direct the ABC in its operational matters. Its editorial decisions are a matter for the organisation itself. The ABC has a statutory obligation to be accurate and impartial in its news and current affairs programs according to the recognised standards of objective journalism, and the government supports this.

The government has stated its commitment to maintain the quality, performance and efficiency of the ABC and to ensure the ABC fulfils its charter and has no plans to review the ABC's role or charter nor to cut funding to the ABC. The ABC, like every other government agency, will be considered under the government's National Commission of Audit but, unlike the former government, the coalition will not seek to assert control over any media to the extent that we saw Senator Conroy attempt to do. (Time expired)

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

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.

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

I cannot let a statement like that go past. It is entirely provocative to see the kind of behaviour that has been engaged in by coalition backbenchers all the way through to the communications minister and the Prime Minister attempting to bully, intimidate, judge and second-guess the national broadcaster. In February and March when a number of relatively modest media reform proposals came before this chamber by the Labor Party, some of which were supported by the Greens, the people who shrieked the most, who were the most strident about independence and a free press are now the ones who are trying to gag the ABC. How inappropriate for the Prime Minister and the communications minister, Malcolm Turnbull, to be carpeting ABC director Mark Scott and second-guessing editorial decisions. It is absolutely inappropriate. I cannot believe coalition members would be voting against a motion that does nothing more or less than defend the editorial independence and the funding basis of our treasured national broadcaster. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.