James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It has been nearly a month since the national broadcaster, our ABC, broadcast comments on its flagship show Q&A which promoted the use of violence as a political tactic. At the time those comments were broadcast, I wrote to the chair of the ABC, Ms Ita Buttrose, and asked some obvious questions about how this could occur. Yet more than three weeks after asking these Q's, I am still waiting for the A's from the ABC. We have heard a lot over recent months from the ABC and the wider media about the public's right to know, yet ironically, when it comes to answering questions from taxpayers about how their money is spent, the ABC seems hesitant to respond—a classic case of the ABC telling Australians to do as they say, not as they do.

What we do know is that the ABC has confirmed in estimates that they are reviewing their property portfolio, that the recent controversial episode of Q&A is under review and that, despite having a property portfolio of more than $500 million and an annual budget of over $1 billion, the ABC cannot find $1 million for the radio broadcast rights for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. By the ABC's own reports, this decision will mean that, for the first time since the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, the ABC will not have a live broadcast of the games.