ABC loses $783m funding since 2014 when Coalition made its first cuts – report

Amanda Meade reports in The Guardian (4.5.20) on new analysis of federal government funding cuts to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, suggesting the public broadcaster has lost over three-quarters of a million dollars in funding over the last six years.

‘The ABC has lost $783m in funding since the Coalition came to power in 2014, a new report on the accumulated impact of government cuts to the public broadcaster shows.

‘The summer bushfires meant the corporation has had to absorb an additional $3m in emergency broadcasting costs on top of an $84m indexation pause imposed by the then prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, in 2018.

‘Despite a hiatus in implementing the 2018 budget cuts due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the ABC’s managing director, David Anderson, has warned staff he will unveil measures to meet the shortfall at the end of July.

‘“The important work we do continues,” he told staff last week. “Our teams are working towards the five-year strategy announcement and our plans to respond to the indexation pause. The board will consider these matters in coming months and I intend to come back to you by the end of July.”

‘More cuts to programming, services and jobs are expected in the next financial year despite six years of downsizing, including the loss of more than 1,000 jobs.’

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