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Friends of ABC to target marginal seats

Production companies are helping lobby group to make ABC funding an election issue.

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Lobby group Friends of ABC will target marginal Coalition seats in the Federal Election campaign.

They will release videos designed to encourage the electorate to vote for any candidate supporting the ABC and restore funding.

Buoyed by increased donations, Friends of ABC will release more than 10 comedic films and animations.

“We are getting pro bono support from producers, artists and production companies to do something we could never have contemplated before,” campaign coordinator Jeff Waters told Fairfax.

The first shows what a commercialised and cash-strapped ABC would look like in the future. It suggests Four Corners has been axed and Kerry O’Brien and Leigh Sales are contestants on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!

“Although ABC funding hasn’t raised an eyebrow so far this election, we’re throwing everything we have at changing public opinion because we see this as a crucial election for the national broadcaster,” said Ranald Macdonald, ABC Friends Spokesman.

“The more than $300m in cuts to the ABC since the Abbott/Turnbull governments came to power has routed the organisation, costing jobs, quality, an hundreds of hours of Australian-produced content.”

“We also fear what could happen if the government is returned,’ he said, “and the spectres of advertising or sell-offs emerge.”

“So we call on all who support the continued importance of a strong, independent and inclusive national broadcaster to make it clear to candidates of whatever political persuasion that they will get their vote on July 2,” he said.

Seats to be targeted include:

NSW
•Page (Nat 3.1%)
•Richmond(ALP 1.6%)
•Dobell (ALP 0.2%)
•Banks (Lib 2.6%)
•Paterson (ALP 0.4%)
•Eden-Monaro (Lib 2.9%)
•Macquarie (Lib 4.5%)
•Lindsay (Lib 3%)
•Macarthur (Lib 3.3%)
•Robertson (Lib 3.1%)
•New England (Nat 19.6%)

VIC
•Corangamite (Lib 3.9%)
•Deakin (Lib 3.2%)
•La Trobe (Lib 4%)
•Indi (Ind 0.3%)

QLD
•Petrie (LNP 0.5%)
•Capricornia (LNP 0.8%)
•Brisbane (LNP 4.3%)
•Bonner (LNP 3.7%)
•Fairfax (PUP 0.03%)

TAS
•Lyons (Lib 1.2%)
•Braddon (Lib 2.6%)
•Bass (Lib 4%)

WA
•Cowan (Lib 4.5%)
•Perth (Lab 2.2%)

SA
•Hindmarsh (Lib 1.9%)
•Wakefield (Lab 3.4%)

NT
•Solomon (CLP 1.4%)

Amended.

4 Responses

  1. Scanning their list of electorates, it looks a bit odd – there’s some marginals there, but also plenty of seats that have been solidly Lib or Lab for the last 20 years, and it’s missing plenty (including my own) that’ve drifted from solidly-held to marginal in that time.

    Looks like they’ve either targetted seats where they have the highest number of members/people on their mailing list, or they think it’s still the early 90’s…

  2. Yikes. The Friends of the ABC don’t seem to have watched much TV. That is one clunky video – poorly written, poorly performed & poorly shot. It inadvertently reinforces the worst stereotype of the ABC viewer, and does nobody – least of all the ABC – any favours.

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