On 10 September I argued that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983 should be amended to remove the ability for the ABC to broadcast opinion.
Since reading Mark Steyn’s piece about defunding the PBS in the United States, my views have hardened. In a time of widespread communications via the internet, radio, tv etc (despite the NBN which itself should be defunded), there can be no justification for maintaining a public broadcaster. If the 7.30 Report cannot exist without taxpayer funding, it should not exist.
I cannot think of any significant positive externalities from our two public broadcasters. I can think of a number of negative externalities – including the overwhelming bias and aim to indoctrinate our young. This would suggest that rather than subsidise the ABC and SBS, we should tax them. Think of some of these negative externalities: the pretentious shows Q&A, Art Nation and Arts Gateway, the supercilious Lateline and Media Watch, the whining Philip Adams, Leigh Sales and Virginia Trioli.
An Abbott Government should repeal the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983 and the Special Broadcasting Services Act 1991. It should sell off the assets of these public corporations (including the broadcasting licenses) and save over $1.8 billion a year (see budget statement 6, page 36) in operating expenses plus the proceeds of the asset sales.
At last we would not find the taxpayer-funded broadcasting services crowding out private provision of news, opinion, documentaries and entertainment.
In the 21st century there is no need, nor is there a justification, for a public broadcaster.
If Leigh Sales wants to broadcast her opinions, she can (quite cheaply) set up a blog. As for Philip Adams, his lone listener, Mr John Smithon, can be moved into Adams’ home for a 24/7 diatribe.
And if everyone still employed by Fauxfacts wasn’t a complete and utter twat*, they’d agree with you…
*Paul Sheehan excepted.
Rabz
11 Oct 12 at 4:16 pm
Yes, when does the legislation pass the parliament?
Token
11 Oct 12 at 4:19 pm
Put ABC out for private ownership.
Mike of Marion
11 Oct 12 at 4:22 pm
Will the conservatives have the guts in the face of what will be vociferous opposition, some of which will be from Nat constituents who love their country hour equivalents?
Otherwise this should be front and centre policy for the coalition.
cohenite
11 Oct 12 at 4:24 pm
What Cohenite said.
There is no market failure gap to fill and the operation of the ABC crowds out the poor old Fairfaxistas.
KC
11 Oct 12 at 4:26 pm
Promise to hive off some of the money saved to subsidise satellite internet for people in truly remote locations. like we provide phone signals.
It will be cheaper than the ABC and provide a better choice of entertainment.
Token
11 Oct 12 at 4:27 pm
The ABC survives from memories of a different era, when there genuinely was no alternative communication service available to people in the bush. In those times, it was a godsend, just as the PMG telephone service was.
Those days are well and truly gone.
johanna
11 Oct 12 at 4:28 pm
Fortunately every second of Trade Union Party propaganda they broadcast just hardens the resolve of those who intend to vote the Trade Union Party out.
I hope that’s why the Liberal(sic) party hasn’t already tabled the draft legislation.
Forester
11 Oct 12 at 4:47 pm
I wish it would happen Samuel but public support is too strong. The latest Essential Media report asked people: “The [ABC] currently receives about $950 million a year from government, including money for transmission. In terms of future funding, do you think the ABC should receive more, less or about the same level of funding?” The responses: 34% said more, 17% less and 32% about the same. Even Coalition voters were more likely to say more than less. Perhaps the way to do it is to strip out components like the website and then Radio National. Then wind down local radio, especially all the sports commentary where there is nothing like a market failure in sight. That may reduce public interest enough to privatise the whole remaining operation and perhaps tender out the country fire/road alerts if necessary.
Sleetmute
11 Oct 12 at 4:50 pm
Sleetmute: send out the budget savings via an optional tax cut: either one takes the money, leaves it for the public broadcaster or increases one’s contribution. Then we would see whether those polling figures have veracity.
Samuel J
11 Oct 12 at 4:53 pm
You are absolutely Right. The market works on “one dollar: one vote”, whereas democracy unfortunately works on “one person: one vote”. Therefore the media must make democracy safe for the market by converting dollar-votes into person-votes. Elected governments must not be involved in the media, lest they give person-votes a power independent of their dollar-backing.
Gavin R Putland
11 Oct 12 at 4:55 pm
If only… I’d vote for this.
Abu Chowdah
11 Oct 12 at 4:58 pm
Probably because listeners can distinguish quality from crap. ABC radio, for example, is streets ahead in terms of content, immediacy and accuracy over anything else available. This becomes abundanly clear in times of crisis, e.g. the Queensland floods.
1735099
11 Oct 12 at 5:01 pm
The key stumbling block to the next Coalition government getting rid of the ABC is overcoming resistance from the Nationals – maybe the trick is to target something specifically at rural/regional communications (hopefully only temporarily) so that the rest of the socialist playgroup can be shut down
Procrustes
11 Oct 12 at 5:03 pm
ABC Rural Radio provides an excellent service and is not duplicating any other service. In rural Queensland at least.
Their network also covers much of Qld’s mining area.
No doubt it loses money.
Thomas Esmond Knox
11 Oct 12 at 5:05 pm
The internet truly means there is no need for a public broadcaster anymore, if the argument ever rang true.
Look at things like the Khan academy, Wikipedia, etc.
.
11 Oct 12 at 5:05 pm
I believe the best way fix the problem is to limit Their ABC to one Tv channel Rural radio coverage where it does fullfill a real need and completely get rid of The SBS waste.
max49
11 Oct 12 at 5:11 pm
Johanna said –
Indeed. I have fond memories of listening on my crystal set to 5LN broadcasting The Children’s Hour, and to the mellifluous voices of Peter Dawes-Smith and Martin Royal. I haven’t listened to or watched the ABC for a number of years now. I don’t miss it.
Walter Plinge
11 Oct 12 at 5:14 pm
Correct…the eternal mystery being why and how the Liberals have always regarded Their ABC as cute opinionated children with little influence….. rather than the fact of their relentless language, slanting public perception on everything from Federal debt to firearms via the methodology of Alinsky.
In government the Libs can fix Their ABc in an afternoon in parliament, but refuse to.
Bloody LibLab…….doesn’t really matter who you vote for, they win.
Alfonso
11 Oct 12 at 5:15 pm
The receipts from the spectrum sales alone on the ABC’s and SBS’ radio and TV stations would be hundreds of millions of dollars.
Adrian
11 Oct 12 at 5:16 pm
Or better still re-introduce the licence system. I recall seeing posters exhorting people to pay their licence or the man in the can will find you. That would have been in the late 60s. When people find they actually have to pay to support their ABC they’ll doubtless feel differently, just as the Brits feel rightly p’f off about paying for the BBC.
Walter Plinge
11 Oct 12 at 5:18 pm
I calculate roughly $6.1 billion over four years in savings and receipts from selling off the ABC and SBS, based on data from their annual reports.
Adrian
11 Oct 12 at 5:24 pm
I have to pay for everything, I dont qualify for free stuff from the government.
I have to pay for the ABC and SBS, which I friggin loathe. The army are running chook raffles to pay for gun oil.
Justice? The Coalition is scared of the ABC the Left media, and the Left know it, and rejoice.
But take heart, one day we are going to burn down their mission station, and dance in the ashes.
Jannie
11 Oct 12 at 5:27 pm
Indifferent about the closing of the ABC – although it needs severe trimming. However SBS should be shut immediately.
The only rationale for the existence of SBS was to provide foreign language broadcasting for migrants to Australia – to provide them with at least some programming in their mother tongue.
In a world of satellite television and broadband internet, SBS is superflouous. A recent migrant has no need for SBS to stay in touch with his or her original culture.
Indeed, SBS has moved away from its foreign language broadcasting background to target the wholly anglophone lefty-luvvie set. Having the ABC wasn’t enough it seems – they had to take over the poor old wogs’ channels as well.
SBS is obsolele – get rid of it.
Matt
11 Oct 12 at 5:38 pm
As indicated by others above, the rural ABC radio does perform a useful function as an emergency broadcaster as I can attest for both the Jan 21 03 fires in our area and the Feb 2009 fire which had a major impact on NE Victoria. Local radio which only covers 8.30 am to 11.00am is largely free from the flavour of the opinion broadcasts that emanate from the capital cities. I would like to see those functions retained in some way.
yackman
11 Oct 12 at 5:40 pm
Numbers is right… thought I’d never say it!
The issue isn’t all of the ABC, it is those bits which are blatantly commercial, and crowding out FauxFacts. This country perhaps needs one lefty source of news and commentary, and the ABC’s online and commercial arms are making life almost impossible for FF etc et al.
One TV channel. Two radio channels (local and News. Can expand to 3 if they can afford it). No need for web sites except to provide access to their radio and TV content.
The rest can be sold.
mct
11 Oct 12 at 5:48 pm
I’m hoping Romney’s actions will embolden Abbott to do the same with the ABC.
I more than agree with the idea to amend the Act and outlaw taxpayer-funded leftist opinion.
Happymonkey
11 Oct 12 at 5:51 pm
Cripes, Jannie, that sort of rhetoric is guaranteed to turn of the average Aussie voter.
An incoming government has a perfect excuse – we are deeply in debt. And, they should bite the bullet and say that the first cuts to the ABC will be in areas which are already well served by thousands of other media outlets – the big cities. If necessary, they should introduce a power of direction for the Minister to make sure it happens.
ABC radio is quite cheap to run and does provide a useful service to people outside the cities. Even a bit of TV transmission in those areas is not that expensive. Country ABC people are often not cut from the same cloth as the Green-worshipping latte set in the cities.
It would be a good exercise to flush out the real motives of those who insist that it is still needed in places where there are uncountable alternatives available, for free.
johanna
11 Oct 12 at 5:59 pm
You could be right Johanna, but I think it needs to get plenty worse before it gets better. And I hope it takes some of the satisfed smirk off the face of ABC girl/guy, because it makes me want to puke.
If opinion polls about support for the ABC are correct, then most of the people who “support” the ABC dont even watch it. Maybe 60% of the people in the middle of the political spectrum think ABC is about boring period frock ups and kids programs.
It hateful, odious hate media dressed up as middle class friendly. I think the point should be made, dont care if it turns them off.
Jannie
11 Oct 12 at 6:10 pm
But they would all have to work! Not just pass on latest Marxist theories. That could cause them to be unemployed. Oh the shame. Oops used the S word.
stackja
11 Oct 12 at 6:15 pm
Yes! No! Make it pay4view and wait to see how many people would pay for that crap. Once proven nobody will pay, shut the whole thing down. This approach is better because it’s incremental and empirical and finally economically rational.
Lysander spooner
11 Oct 12 at 6:18 pm
I agree with previous comments about ABC rural radio. Many of the commercial stations run blocks of content purchased from the city which may be entertaining but doesn’t really fill local needs. And the emergency services aspect is quite compelling.
However the TV and big city – I’m including the capitols and also Newcastle, Townsville etc – radio can go. This has the bonus of losing the Ultimo bunker and the equivalent in Melbourne where most of the worst statist impulses are contained.
AND the added bonus of finding out what the presenter wankers who pretentiously say “….well I’m on an ABC salary…” are really worth.
Are there job openings for insufferable, smug and slimy prats? Cmon Tony Jones lets find out.
DaveF
11 Oct 12 at 6:19 pm
The funding of the ABC is still based on the same justification used for its funding when it was founded: it is an essential service; and the fact that it is government-funded means it is “independent” and high quality. None of those justifications now exist. There is no justification for government media under any circumstances if the service can be provided by the private sector. And a government service will never be “independent”; the ABC is the output of a corps that now thinks its existence is a “right”; a corpa that is anything but “independent” – a collective with no KPIs and no financial discipline that has no income or market discipline and reflects the ethos of the public service. If necessary, the function now performed by ABC Rural can be achieved much more cheaply with subsidies for local commercial radio — a much more sustainable driver of local media employment in the country.
Tom
11 Oct 12 at 6:25 pm
Agree with the proposition BUT won,t happen , while Turnbull is in charge of telecommunications (or anything!!)
blind freddy
11 Oct 12 at 6:26 pm
If an emergency service is required, a CSO (community service obligation) payment can be made to commercial broadcasters to provide it. No need to keep the ABC around.
boy on a bike
11 Oct 12 at 6:27 pm
Having been involved in the privatisation of Telstra, I think that it is easy for some Cat readers to underestimate the difference between communications in the cities and elsewhere. They certainly underestimate the backlash that will hit any party that tries to tell rural and regional people that they are losing their local ABC station, but hey – they still have Kyle Sandilands to listen to, and Brynne Edelston to watch.
Phasing out the ABC has to be strategic, not a bloodbath, or else the blood will be on the other foot, to mix a metaphor. Merging it with SBS and cutting the combined budget would be a useful first step.
johanna
11 Oct 12 at 6:50 pm
Completely agree – I cannot see any need for ABC or SBS now but plenty of reasons to get rid of them.
Hazza
11 Oct 12 at 6:55 pm
Easy peecy….leave them a rural Radio National and let the rest of Their ABC run their agitprop on advertising dollars.
Alfonso
11 Oct 12 at 7:00 pm
Given that the anti-bias rule has failed, we need to consider an everybody-gets-a-mouthpiece rule. So we get a Left news and a Right news, a Left Media Watch and a Right Media Watch, and so on. Multi-channeling should make it workable.
2dogs
11 Oct 12 at 7:04 pm
The ABC today:
Obsessed with writing up the attacking speech made by Gillard as some sort of inspiring master-stroke. Obsessed with running another anti-Catholic story about abuse of underage persons – not with the large number of Labor pollies who have succumbed to similar temptations over many years.
RN breakfast had Howard on to talk about the Bali event, and tried unsuccessfully to get him to comment on standards in political banter.
Leigh Sales tonight made another spectacle of herself on the 7.30 Rant. Showing her unsuitably partisan and nasty side, and obsessed with proving that Tony Abbott is indeed sexist and probably misogynist, she was rebuffed by a calm and rational Julie Bishop. Sales tried to make hay with Abbott’s 1998 comment that an unequal number of women in high positions was not necessarily a bad thing.
Mrs. Blogstrop agrees with me that women can and do find other pursuits in life more meaningful than beating your way up a career ladder while short-changing your kids on the attention front. That used to be what men were criticized for, and probably still are.
Sydney 702 Drive – Thursday Journos’ Forum, also obsessed with the Gillard speech, making out that it was a milestone in political discourse. As an alternate take, last night’s ring-in to Steve Price and Andrew Bolt showed that numerous women are queuing to say clearly and directly that Gillard does not, as she claimed, speak for them.
The ABC news quite cheerfully showed Robyn Parker, the NSW Environment minister, being monstered by one of the few remaining ALP stooges, in a committee, apparently not realizing that his aggressiveness was exactly what is being characterized as sexist and misogynist in the federal forum when it suits them. But as we know, the left are not in tune with hypocrisy, far less irony.
blogstrop
11 Oct 12 at 7:23 pm
Another great upside of selling off or downsizing metro Melbourne ABC: at last we could demolish the hated Ripponlea studios and reinstate the gardens of Rippon Lea Estate. The ABC’s continuing occupation of what is now National Trust property has been a sore point from the outset in 1956 — and they have been very bloody-minded about it.
Walter Plinge
11 Oct 12 at 7:32 pm
The rational solution for that would be for the government to contract a media group to pay for a ABC rural equivalent for a half hour in the morning and an hour at lunch, and then in times of emergency regularly broadcast from an emergency centre like Anna Bligh did during the queensland floods through local commercial radio (say 5-10 minutes on the hour, with a repeat on the half hour). The local radio could fill in local roads information after the state level broadcast.
Can’t happen though, as the preservation of the ABC would be completely emotive. even people that despise the journalists on the ABC and never, ever, listen to it would oppose the dismantling of an institution. It truly is the ultimate sheltered workshop.
entropy
11 Oct 12 at 7:37 pm
Incidentally, nice to hear Kel Richards on 2GB with Andrew Bolt tonight. He always struck me as one of the nicest guys on ABC News Radio back when it was less infected with the more Marius Benson flavoured ABC orthodoxy it now suffers from.
blogstrop
11 Oct 12 at 7:42 pm
Good of the CFMEU to so neatly show up the ALP, the ABC and the rest of the leftist media for the craven beat-up artists they are. A flury of patching up being done retrospectively today, as statements about “yes, I did phone the CFMEU this morning to complain” come thick and fast!
blogstrop
11 Oct 12 at 7:53 pm
My view is that once the ABC is gone, the quality programming will come from other sources. At the moment the ABC crowds out quality programming. It would be good if those of us who like mature drama and arts documentaries were forced to pay for tghem, rather than expect the poor old taxpayer to stump up for our pleasure.
I have noticed rcently, that the commercial channels are showing more good Briti drama now that they have more channels. GFor example their ABC is not getting THE up market drama of the last 10 years, Parade’s End.
Anyway, who needs an ABC when we’ve got the BBC. The former is only a poor imitation of the latter anyway.
When they close the ABC down thay should put a few of the more egregious ABC luvvies in the stocks and allow us to throw rotten fruit at them. They could add arseholes like Anne Summers while they were at it.
Rococo Liberal
11 Oct 12 at 8:26 pm
What a top idea!
Rabz
11 Oct 12 at 8:33 pm
It would be remiss when dicussing “negative externalities” to leave out those fuckwits at the hamster wheel.
kruddler
11 Oct 12 at 8:43 pm
Exactly!
This is what the most enthusiastic defenders of the ABC don’t get. They don’t understand crowding out. There’s been a lot of talk here of the ABC crowding out Fairfax and that’s a good point but it’s far from the end of the story.
ABC2= Nickelodeon, Disney, and Noggin.
ABC24 = Sky news.
What ongoing impact does JJJ have on the radio landscape I wonder, or for that matter, on the Australian music landscape, and the festival circuit? Would others move in if they weren’t around?
As for drama, the ABC shows a lot of BBC stuff, but if they didn’t someone else would.
As for the niche little shows on Radio National and elsewhere, I reckon that with podcasts, small operators could do a lot of that stuff, and on a fraction of the budget.
dd
11 Oct 12 at 8:52 pm
What Rococo said!
Purely on principle, the rest of us should not be conscripted into handing over half a billion dollars a year to broadcast socialist propaganda to socialists.
The next election will be a once in generation chance to divert 10% of GDP currently spent holding the country back, into actual value added investment. There should be a real GDP boost of at least 20%, very likely to disproportionately benefit the actual value producing regions, more than enough to broadcast community service announcements brought to you by the local sheep drench purveyor.
Forester
11 Oct 12 at 9:15 pm
“Anyway, who needs an ABC when we’ve got the BBC. The former is only a poor imitation of the latter anyway.”
Just in case there was any doubt about r. liberal, this proves what a complete wanker he/she is.
The BBC is completely colonised by Catastrophic Anthophogenic Global Warming believers. They adore windmills, and care nothing for poor people dying of cold in their own country. They ran seminars for their staff on how to promote the ‘message’ more effectively.
See Bishop Hill for details.
johanna
11 Oct 12 at 9:24 pm
The ABC does children s programs really well and gives services to country people that others may not provide. But the rest of it is just pointless. You could use the money to develop science and education programs for young people. You could fund the arts properly. You could do so much in many areas of education and performing arts that most people would not miss it pretty quick!
helgab
11 Oct 12 at 10:44 pm
And “Our” ABC isn’t? Just ask James Delingpole of the reception he received at ABC 774 Local Radio. The ABC openly propagandises for CAGW with a side order of anti-nuclear alarmism.
Cold-Hands
12 Oct 12 at 12:18 am
The Coalition would have to actually prosecute the case to start to shift sentiment. And the case for disposing of them has probably never been stronger (the Swan debt is a gift in that regard) nor the timing with predictions of a landslide victory. Even if it did cost seats at the election it would be worth it to achieve something great. Better that than win more seats and be remembered for mediocrity. Howard should have offered to sell the ABC and SBS when under attack for “middle class welfare” policies. But do I think that the author of direct action climate policy will take direct action to sell the public broadcasters? No. I predict they’ll continue on their merry way, partisan, untroubled and unaccountable.
Ivan Denisovich
12 Oct 12 at 12:43 am
I generally agree that the ABC should be defunded (but no not the SBS, they seem adequately leashed and neutered by the terrible requirement to sell evil capitalist advertising) but Samuel misses one catastrophic consequence of this suggested policy. Professor Bunyip will be deprived of all his best material.
Bruce
12 Oct 12 at 7:26 am
In the UK, the Labor-lite Cameron government has appointed a wanna-be lefty to take over a Cesspit of an organisation which hid a predatory p@do for 40 years.
Unfortunately I predict this is what the Coaltion will do in a few years time instead of cashing out of a very bad investment.
Token
12 Oct 12 at 7:43 am
Phillip Clarke on RN Breakfast, long love-in with Anna Bourke, followed by panel discussion with Mark Riley and Grattan – all snouts still firmly in the gender trough.
blogstrop
12 Oct 12 at 9:42 am
LEIGH sALES WITH HER OWN BLOG OF HATE OF ANYTHING LIBERAL. SHE WAS RUDE AGAIN IN LAST NIGHTS PROGRAM TO JULIE BISHOP. bUT THE CREAM rose to the top and Julie Bishop made leigh look like a fishwife yelling again ,to get her labor message out there. Well done Julie Bishop there goes a lady .Labor fishwives from the wrong side of the fence ,and it shows.
lorraine palmer
12 Oct 12 at 12:13 pm
Shutting down the ABC will get rid of at least one documented cancer cluster. Funny how commercial radio doesn’t seem to cause cancer.
cuckoo
12 Oct 12 at 12:57 pm
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sell, sell, sell … | pindanpost
12 Oct 12 at 1:28 pm
I’m in!
Dianne
12 Oct 12 at 5:37 pm