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Abbott concedes ABC, SBS cuts “at odds” with election promise

"I accept what we are doing with the ABC is at odds with what I said," says a PM under pressure.

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2014-12-02_0101Under pressure Prime Minister Tony Abbott yesterday conceded the government had not met its promise of no funding cuts to the ABC and SBS.

In a lengthy press conference yesterday the PM described last week as a “ragged” week on a number of issues and conceded “the buck stops with me.”

On the issue of a backflip over public broadcaster funding he said, “I accept what we are doing with the ABC is at odds with what I said immediately prior to the election but things have moved on, circumstances are different.”

It follows Communication Minister Malcolm Turnbull initially backing the PM’s terminology, before conceding some may interpret it as a broken promise.

Meanwhile The Australian today reports Turnbull is preparing to ask the broadcasters to provide annual resource-allocation reports and statements on how they are meeting charter ­obligations.

15 Responses

  1. Scott should stop paying Foxtel transmission fees and wait for the howls from the Coalition. You can access ABC regionally without Foxtel and use the Optus digital satellite in black spots. And you could designate the money saved to produce a number of first class regional style shows. Foxtel would be the loser if quality networks such as ABC and SBS left.

  2. So first it was labelled an efficiency dividend (even though the ABC has been excluded from these in the past – so even introducing one would be a backflip). And let’s ignore the fact that the cuts are about 3 x the size of an ED. So this “excuse” wasn’t obviously working. However, now they’re trying to make it seem like it’s a relatively new policy decision based on labor’s bad economic forecasts. Anyone with a modicum of interest in politics knows that the Abbott govt has been out to get the ABC since winning office. And the proof is in the relatively meager savings to be made by the cuts – only about $50m a year – out of a $400b budget.

  3. @Dayman….in a perfect world where everyone is productive, there would still be approximately 70% of non value add activity in the tasks that we do. There is always an opportunity to increase the value add by eliminating or reducing wasteful activities.

  5. I’m confused, Abbott and the government have been saying for months now that cutting the ABC was not a breach of an election promise…

    @Keegie that is assuming there is waste to cut. Which seems to be an ideological position. The reports into spending at the ABC say there is no way to avoid loosing jobs with the cuts.

  6. A complete over-reaction by the ABC to the 5% cut. You can agree or disagree with the cut but the point is you don’t have to sack 400 staff plus all the other reductions, changes, amalgamations, decentralisation etc etc etc because of these cuts.
    Go after the waste and you will easily pull back the 5%. This is what happens in the private sector, been there, done that.

  7. Turnbull is also asking for Scott to stop being Editor in Chief and for a separate CFO. Scott and Spiegelman will likely ignore him.

    Holmes wrote a good op-ed in the SMH arguing that Managing Director/Editor in Chief (copied from the BBC) is a bad idea and hasn’t worked in either country.

    Scott, meanwhile, has launched a distraction arguing Foxtel should help out the ABC by underwritings its distribution on their cable and satellite point out FOX in the US demands a fee to be shown on cable (SMH). This is nonsense they are freely negotiated agreements reflecting different circumstances.

  9. This is a story about the ABC and SBS – which I believe are related to television.

    This blog is about television.

    Mapia – this is a story about television.

    But I do share your grief. Any story about Tony Abbort makes me run to the nearest bucket too.

  10. a bit of politics….great stuff

    at least Tony is admitting a broken promise (one that he really should never have made). If the previous govt leaders had done the same they may have stayed in power a little longer.

    The current govt is in trouble, the budget is one unholy unpopular mess…a dog’s breakfast

  13. Really disappointed to read that the ABC will no longer be broadcasting the WNBL and the W-League because of these cuts. I hope Fox Sports can step in like they did with the Netball. Considering the talent playing in the WNBL this season they would be crazy not too.

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