Page 4169 - Week 13 - Thursday, 27 November 2014
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government, because somehow we should only talk about local council matters in this place, according to Mr Hanson and his colleagues.
But it cannot be denied. These changes do impact on Canberra. They impact on the Canberrans that we represent and their ability to view local programming and receive local news. They even impact on the political discourse in our city as we face an inevitable decrease in the amount of local political reporting and political scrutiny. All members in this chamber should lament this decline and should stand up and oppose these cuts.
It has already been reported that it is expected that eight jobs will be lost at our local ABC. Not only is this difficult for these individuals and their families but it is a significant proportion of the relatively small Canberra ABC.
On this note I might just mention that Greens Senator Scott Ludlam asked Senator Eric Abetz in question time yesterday if the government would apologise for breaking a promise and also to the ABC staff who have lost their jobs. Senator Abetz’s answer was: “No, and, secondly, no-one has lost their job.” I wonder what Mr Abetz says to our local ABC staff about that.
As an example of the way local reporting will change, the regular ABC news bulletins will reduce from 10 minutes to five minutes. For Canberra this means there is a high likelihood that there will be less room for local news in these bulletins—perhaps no room at all. Unfortunately all this serves to alienate Canberrans from their local Assembly, from the issues that are happening here and that affect them every day.
The ABC has a long and proud history in Canberra. The ABC was launched in 1932 with a broadcast heard across the country. During the Second World War we heard Australia’s first ever female newsreader on the ABC, Margaret Doyle. Radio station 2CN, which we know today as ABC 666, started in Canberra in 1953. ABC television was launched in 1956, and current affairs programming was first introduced in the 60s with Four Corners. In 1986 we welcomed the 7.30 Report, which has evolved into what we now know as 7.30. In 1996 we also got Stateline, the local-focused version of the 7.30 Report. And since 2011 we have known our local ACT Stateline as 7.30 ACT.
I found it devastating to hear that following these cuts there will no longer be a 7.30 ACT program. The program has provided a fantastic local focus, with quality stories that both celebrated Canberra and profiled local Canberrans and events, as well as conducted serious current affairs on issues that were important and topical to locals. Many of the members here in the Assembly have probably appeared on Stateline or 7.30 ACT, and I think we all appreciate the professionalism of that program and its journalists and presenters, currently Chris Kimball but of course many of his predecessors.
Over the years there are many favourite and memorable 7.30 ACT programs that stick in our memories, stories on the Canberra bushfires, a moving piece about a homeless security guard in Canberra, a story showcasing the Namadgi national park, its in-depth coverage of our local elections, a 2002 story on the community radio station
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