Mistrusted Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has broken yet another promise following the official announcement that 10% of staff at the ABC will lose their job.
$254 million has been wiped from the ABC’s budget.
On election eve 2013 Tony Abbott was asked a simply question ‘Are the ABC and SBS in the firing line’. His response, “no cuts to education, no cuts to health, no change to pensions, no change to the GST and no cuts to the ABC or SBS”.
Today, the severity of the Abbott lie was revealed when ABC boss Mark Scott told staff of their fate at a meeting at the Ultimo headquarters in Sydney.
– 400 people, or 10% of staff will be let go, Scott anticipates
– 10% of job cuts to be management positions, dismantling state and territory director structure
– Adelaide TV production studio to close
– TV production in “smaller states” to “wind down,” basing it in Sydney and Melbourne
– Regional radio posts in Wagin, Morwell, Gladstone, Port Augusta and Nowra to close
– A scaling back of sports involvement and rationalisation of outside broadcast
– Lanceley Place in Sydney to be sold
– Stateline to go, replaced by end-of-week 7.30 edition
– Lateline to shift to ABC24
– Foreign Bureax reshaped, new Beirut bureau
– ABC Classic FM to cut back concerts
“So many competent and loyal employees will lose their jobs,” Mark Scott said in a statement.
The cuts will be a blow to regional Australians who are most reliant on the broadcasts of the ABC. Cuts to news programs will also impact on balanced reporting of events, leaving many Australian’s with false representation of the facts. Cuts to production of live events will impact on Australia culturally as the ABC covers minority and ethnic events often ignored in commercial media.
SBS boss Michaek Ebeid is addressing staff as well today. SBS have been told to cut $54 million from the budget.
