Funding Needs
Radio National's reported need for [an extra million dollars to make up for a budget overrun i]s entirely predictable. WA FABC fully supports it.
While the government of the day may welcome the axing of Radio National (RN), to WA Friends of the ABC, RN is the jewel in the ABC's crown and a daily reminder of the value of quality public broadcasting. Ratings do not measure quality - while RN may only rate 1.9%, over 60% of the 10,600 submissions to the 1996 Mansfield Enquiry emphasised RN's value.
Budget cuts over the last twenty years have caused the loss of a great deal of depth and range of ABC services. News and Current Affairs content has increased from 15% to 20% of total TV broadcast time, undoubtedly because it is cheaper. Little local material is produced in the smaller States apart from state news and sport. Concerts are now seldom broadcast, never on television. Arts and culture coverage as a whole has diminished dramatically in both quantity and quality. At the moment the only Australian-produced (let alone ABC-produced) series drama on ABC TV are a couple of repeats of Wildside. Not so long ago, Pride and Prejudice finished its fourth screening.
Last financial year, Channel 2 cost $452 million all-up. ABC Kids and Fly (digital TV channels both, closed to save money) by themselves cost $7 million a year. ABC2, the one re-established ABC digital channel is running on $2 million a year. In its last funding submission, the ABC indicated that it had used up all its financial reserves. It was quite clear then that our ABC was suffering a funding crisis.
Between 1974 and 2002, there were 13 major reports into aspects of the ABC, the cumulative costs of which could probably have funded Radio National for several years. Senator Coonan should publicly endorse the ABC's efficient use of funds, rather than wait for the inevitable result of yet another pointless Review, or more opportunities to appoint impressively inappropriate people to the ABC Board.
Fifteen cents a day would restore the ABC's funding to 1986 levels. Done over several years, it would be invisible to the Howard Government's very large surpluses. Prior to the last Federal Budget, Australian Council of Social Service president Andrew McCallum observed that the Federal Government is wasting $11 billion on a range of concessions and tax breaks. That too can be called middle-class welfare.
WA FABC calls on the Government and Senator Coonan to finally do their duty and substantially increase funding for our ABC as a whole.