The Morrison government’s demand that the ABC and SBS add a new layer of accountability has been blasted by Labor as “regulation by stealth” that could lead to a loss of independence.
At the same time as the Coalition pledged to restore ABC funding to 2018 levels on Monday, the communications minister, Paul Fletcher, unveiled a plan to impose new reporting conditions on both public broadcasters.
The so-called statements of expectations will be on top of the broadcasters’ already rigorous reporting requirements to parliament.
The government will restore ABC funding to 2018 levels, when Malcolm Turnbull imposed an $84m indexation pause, but the pledge will not make up for the $526m cut from the ABC budget since the Coalition came to power.
Labor’s media spokesperson, Michelle Rowland, warned the accountability plan is a slippery slope which could lead to a loss of independence; and questioned whether the regulatory frameworks for the ABC and SBS support such a demand.
“Make no mistake, minister Fletcher’s ‘statement of expectations’ requiring additional regional reporting is a form of regulation by stealth, and the notion the national broadcasters should comply with this minister’s expectations as a quid pro quo for funding is wholly unacceptable,” Rowland told Guardian Australia.
Fletcher has written to the ABC board chair, Ita Buttrose, saying he expects the broadcaster to detail key activities every year including staffing levels and editorial outputs in regional and rural areas, how it spends the news budget and levels of Australian content.
The ABC has declined demands to report levels of content separately as the ABC Charter already ensures it meets the requirements for telling Australian stories.
“It is my expectation as minister that, for improved transparency, the ABC will report on the following metrics in its future annual reports,” Fletcher said in his letter.
A spokesperson for the ABC confirmed the board had received the letter.
“The minister has written to the chair about the Statement of Expectations,” he said. “The Statement will be considered by the Board in due course.”
A spokesperson for SBS said: “As has been acknowledged, SBS already provides extensive information on its Australian content as part of its annual report, and we will work constructively on any new reporting framework.”
Labor is planning to ask the government to explain why it believes it has the power to impose the new conditions at Senate estimates next week.
“The national broadcasters are key democratic and cultural institutions whose independence is enshrined in legislation, and funding stability is an important guard against political interference,” Rowland said.
“It is, therefore, concerning that the minister has issued ‘Statements of Expectations’ that the ABC and SBS undertake a new reporting function, given the minister is not empowered to issue Statements of Expectations to the national broadcasters.
“The ABC and SBS are not subject to direction by or on behalf of the government, except in limited circumstances, and the ABC board need only give consideration to government policy in specific circumstances.”
In December 2020 Buttrose accused Fletcher of a pattern of behaviour which “smacks of political interference” in a robust defence of the public broadcaster’s independence after he wrote to the board demanding answers to 15 questions about Four Corners’ Inside the Canberra Bubble program.
In his letter setting out the scheme Fletcher said he “continues to recognise and respect the ABC’s statutory independence and the legislative requirement that it perform its functions free from government interference or direction”.
“Nothing in this letter is to be taken as a direction issued to the ABC by or on behalf of the Government,” he said.
Guardian Australia understands apart from specific and limited circumstances the ABC Act is expressly not subject to direction by or on behalf of the government.
There is nothing in the act which details the concept of a ministerial statement of expectations.
“The decision on whether to provide additional reporting is entirely a matter for the ABC and SBS, who already provide transparency in a range of ways,” Rowland said.
“While Labor has no issue with transparency and reporting in principle, we note it may be used as an avenue for political interference in the national broadcasters, in certain circumstances, and we reject this Minister’s governance invention.”
The Coalition has cut $526m from the ABC since its first budget, including an “indexation pause” for the past three years which Fletcher denies is a cut.
A poll of 1,000 voters conducted by the Australia Institute found that 52% want the $84m cut from the ABC in the last three years to be restored, more than double those who oppose it (25%).
