A funding reduction of $150m each year over the past decade has taken a “very real toll” on the ABC’s output – especially in drama, children’s programming, documentaries and regional coverage, the broadcaster’s chair, Kim Williams, has told the National Press Club.
“We stood back for the best part of three or four decades and allowed the ABC to lose one-third of its funding in real terms when its services have been needed more than ever before,” Williams said.
In a rare admission that the ABC’s offerings are not as strong as they once were, Williams conceded a decline in funding, coupled with the need to provide more digital services such as iview, meant its coverage of Australian culture had deteriorated.
“As our nation has become richer, our nation’s broadcaster has become much poorer,” he said.
A former chair of News Corp Australia, Williams has already put his stamp on the public broadcaster by reversing several board decisions about the future of radio and the recent restructure. The board is recruiting a new managing director after the early resignation of David Anderson.
Williams made an impassioned plea for the ABC to be properly funded as a bulwark against the profound damage to society from misinformation, disinformation and “downright lies”.
“As the waters of misinformation and disinformation rise, the continuing existence of the ABC as a trusted source of the truth will help save our democracy from the populist damage going on elsewhere,” he said.
“That tsunami of overseas-generated content breaching our information defences is now competing for the affections, hearts, minds and aspirations of our people.”
Williams said it was true the ABC was allocated $1bn from the commonwealth but it represented just 0.13% of outlays, down from 0.31% in 2001.
He said Australia invests about 40% less per person in public broadcasting than the average for a comparable set of 20 OECD democracies.
There is no reason why Australia cannot produce brilliant international content such as that seen on Netflix or Disney+, he said.
“The tiny Scandinavian countries punch like heavyweights in the world of entertainment content development, while we, with our far larger population, are currently punching like phantom waves.”
He said the decision not to renew Sarah Macdonald’s contract as presenter of ABC Radio Sydney’s Mornings program was a normal part of renewal in media. The sacking last week was met with an outcry from listeners and some staff.
“That decision is a management decision, and I fully support our management in making relevant decisions as to the direction and content of the services that the ABC provides,” he said. “So yes, I do support that decision. I do support the notion of refreshment in the various services that the ABC offers.”
Williams said the decline in Radio Australia’s “once great set of services” had been to the detriment of the nation’s soft diplomatic reach.
“The fine Australian content we once produced in abundance for children and young people has been reduced, along with our educational programming,” he said.
“Content development and programming in documentaries, science, religion and ethics, drama, and sporting diversity, including more recently women’s sports, have also declined.”
He said despite the ABC’s presence in 58 locations, extensive coverage of regional Australian news and culture “are not what they once were”.
Williams singled out radio as a service which had suffered from underfunding, saying Radio National, Classic FM and local radio had been “squeezed tight, to the very public dismay of their passionate audiences”.
Last week the ABC unveiled a raft of changes to the radio schedule, some of which immediately came under fire.
“To put my case most simply: the ABC needs a plan for renewal and reinvestment, and it needs it now.”
