BY ADAM MACLEAN
With an eye on countering a rural backlash, the federal Liberal-National government has announced significant telecommunication policy backflips in the May 22 budget.
As well as committing itself to not sell off the remaining 51% of Telstra, the government has granted the ABC an extra $17.8 million per year (for four years) exclusively tied to rural and regional initiatives. It is expected that the 48 regional ABC centres will take up new media projects by appointing multimedia producers for more local news content on the internet.
Added to the ABC's triennial funding arrangements, the cash injection means the national broadcaster will receive a total of $745.2 million in federal government funding and loans in 2001-02.
While designed specifically to head off criticism that this government has gutted the ABC, the extra funding is merely a tiny giving back of what Treasurer Peter Costello slashed in 1996. Then, $66 million was stripped from the ABC, forcing the semi-privatisation of the national symphony orchestras and the axing of most of the local editions of the 7.30 Report, for example.
ABC funding has been cut by 34% in real terms over 15 years; in the last 10 years 2000 broadcasters have been axed. Under new managing director Jonathan Shier that is, in the last 15 months 30% of TV producers in New South Wales have been made redundant.
In this context, this budget allocation still represents a cut to the ABC of $48.2 million.
The extraordinary funding allocation is far from the major breakthrough that Shier claims. Not only has Shier failed to win the extra $38 million requested in his budget submission, he has also left the ABC open to further political interference by governments of the day.
To use a much-loved Shier-ism, the only corner that has been turned is the one that leads towards the blind alley of political favouritism.
Now armed with specific, targeted funding of the ABC, the government is more able to exert political control. In this particular case, the government has directed the ABC to use the funds to produce programs for one of the National Party's perceived constituencies: people living outside the cities.
No extra monies will be spent on the production of national programs or networks, like News Radio, Triple J or Radio National.
Federal Liberal communications minister Richard Alston has made no secret that he believes the ABC should drop some of its esoteric programs and increase its audiences, instead of asking for more money.
This clearly represents intervention by the government in the program-making decisions of the ABC and undermines its editorial independence. It puts into question sections of the ABC's charter a document spelling out the broadcaster's roles and commitments to the Australian community, which is recognised in law obliging it to be free of political bias.
Governments' policy of routinely appointing people to the ABC board whose views are in line with their own is an even greater threat to the national broadcaster's independence.
In theory, the current board is independent of the government even though Donald McDonald, a good friend of the prime minister, is its chairperson, and ex-Victorian Liberal Party president, Michael Kroger, and even the CEO of the Australian Stock Exchange are also members.
It is not the place of government to grant, nor that of the ABC management to seek, funding that comes with strings attached. The programming proposals given to the government were ones ABC management believed this government would want.
For example, there were no calls for the reversal of the 3.2% cut to the news and current affairs department a national, not regional, department or the reinstatement of the 100 journalists and sound and lighting technicians sacked from it.
Friends of the ABC rallies around the country in April and May demonstrated widespread public anger at the ongoing cuts to the ABC. No doubt they were also part of the reason for the extra funds the ABC received in this budget.
However, for the full restoration of funding, with no strings attached, an ongoing public campaign led by the unions at the ABC and their supporters needs to be reignited. More pressure needs to be brought to bear to sack not only managing director Jonathan Shier, but the entire ABC board, and its replacement by a body selected by a system requiring public scrutiny of board candidates.
As broadcasting beams headlong into the high-tech, interactive future, the Australian people deserve nothing less than a genuinely independent, properly resourced and nationally organised non-commercial network of television, radio and online media.