Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Agriculture) | Hansard source

No, actually it wasn't. Please read Senator McCarthy's actual Senate inquiry into the issue. The Liberal-National government knows the importance of the ABC to rural and regional communities. It provides local voices, talking about local issues. It covers the good, like thrilling local sporting derbies; the bad—the stresses that local communities are under because of the drought; and the downright ugly, broadcasting our emergency service information to keep locals informed and safe in bushfires and in floods, as they're currently doing. That's why it's so important that regional Australia has a say in how the ABC is run, because decisions made by a city-centric board and management centre mean that services end up getting cut to the very people for whom the ABC is often the only provider of entertainment, information and current affairs.

That is why our government is seeking to legislate changes to ensure the ABC is responsive to the needs of rural and regional Australia: amending the charter to include regional and geographic diversity; establishing an advisory council so that the ABC board, before it makes decisions that impact on service provision, actually bothers to consult those impacted, because we know they haven't in the past; annual reporting obligations; and ensuring the ABC board itself has connections into regional Australia.

This is just one example of how our government is focused on the needs of regional Australians, because we believe geography should not be a determinant of your future success.