Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last week, in Bendigo, over 100 people rallied in Hargreaves Mall, at the front of Senator Bridget McKenzie's office, a Nationals member, calling on the government to reverse its savage cuts to the ABC. People in Bendigo signed petitions and stood up and said that they loved their ABC and that they did not support the government's cuts to the ABC and SBS. I was proud to stand on the lawns of Parliament today, with that banner and ready to present to the government. That is representation. It is not representation to be part of a party, to be part of a coalition, that votes in favour of cuts, that is quite complicit as it sits here and agrees with that, and then goes on TV and on radio and says, 'Oh, the ABC shouldn't be cutting services in my electorate. It shouldn't be cutting those services to my constituents.' The ABC has got to cut somewhere. Costs go up.

Those opposite claim to be the government that represents big business, so who is it going to be? You have got part of the government saying, 'Do not shut down the studios in Adelaide.' You have also got part of the government saying, 'Do not shut down the Bush Telegraph.' What is it going to be? Is it going to be the bush, or is it going to be Adelaide? The government need to reverse these cuts. They need to listen to the Australian people. The ABC is not the propaganda arm of the government of the day. The ABC is the people's voice. It is the people's broadcaster. And it is time this government did the right thing and reversed the cuts to the ABC and listened to the Australian people.

See this speech in context