Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Communications, Senator Fifield. On Monday, SBS managing director Michael Ebeid said of the decision to sublicense World Cup games to Optus:

… it does come down to finances … We've had about $40 million in reductions in our government funding … had we not had to look at our budgets, we probably would have retained it, like we were planning when we bought it.

On Monday, the Prime Minister refused to apologise to Australians and football fans for his cuts to the SBS. Will the Minister for Communications now apologise to football fans and all Australians for cuts made on Malcolm Turnbull's watch?

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

I'm happy to share with colleagues some other things that Mr Ebeid said in his interview. Mr Ebeid said, and I think this is a self-evident point:

… sports rights have been going up and up and up. The World Cup was no different – we've paid a lot more for the World Cup and at the same time our costs for the World Cup have gone up.

These are I guess what might be considered some self-evident observations. He also said:

So at the end of the day you have to cut your cloth to suit your own funding. One of the things we wanted to make sure was that we retained the World Cup for our viewers …

In reference to the arrangements that SBS entered into, he went on to say, 'It helped us financially. It gave us more product, more games in terms of the EPL, and it allowed us to still have all the main games of the World Cup, so a good deal overall. And, as I say, it enabled us to retain the World Cup where we may not have been able to afford to do it on our own.' So I thought that those might be some helpful comments from the MD of SBS, for colleagues.

Mr Ebeid also went on to say: 'SBS is limited in things like its advertising revenue, so we can only go to a maximum of five minutes an hour, compared to our commercial counterparts, which probably do 13 to 15 minutes. So our ability to monetise is restricted by our ability to increase our revenue, which is hamstrung. So we had to adjust our spend accordingly.' On this side of the chamber, we had a proposition before the Senate to give the SBS greater flexibility when it came to advertising. Those opposite opposed that. So Mr Ebeid made the clear point that greater advertising flexibility would have assisted them in precisely this sort of circumstance.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Farrell, with a supplementary question.

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Will the minister stop blaming SBS and accept responsibility for the consequence of his government's funding cuts?

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

I thought I was fairly clear in my answer to the last question. I'm not blaming SBS. I am blaming those opposite. We wanted to give the SBS greater advertising flexibility. Those opposite said, 'No, no, no, no, no; we won't let that happen.' I don't know if those opposite are suggesting that that particular matter be revisited. It's one that we've taken off the table, but perhaps Senator Farrell might like to clarify if he is proposing that that which Mr Ebeid referred to be revisited.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Farrell, a final supplementary question.

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask the questions here today. Given that SBS holds the Australian broadcast rights for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, will the Turnbull government finally accept that its cuts have consequences for SBS programming and the public?

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

What a good thing it is that SBS is broadcasting free to air every event involving the Socceroos. What a great thing it is that SBS will be broadcasting free to air the World Cup final. On this side of the chamber we think that's a good thing. Obviously, we are aware of the technical difficulties that Optus has had, and SBS and Optus have worked together to ensure that there's even more that is being broadcast free to air. So I would ask for Senator Farrell to reflect on his contribution today.