Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Hanson-Young. As I've pointed out repeatedly in this chamber, the Albanese government are strong supporters of the ABC—and SBS, for that matter—as our national public broadcasters. We were very proud of the fact that in our first budget, I think, we reversed a substantial portion of the funding cuts that had been imposed on the ABC by the former coalition government, who we know are no friends of public broadcasting or the ABC.

I absolutely recognise the vital role of the ABC when it comes to emergency broadcasting. I've personally relied on it, and I've certainly met a lot of Australians who have. Of course, one of the reasons that people become reliant on ABC emergency broadcasts is that, as you point out, there are occasions when our communications networks do fail because of the impact of disasters. Literally, the way that people stay aware of emergency situations is by having a portable radio—battery powered, not reliant on the electricity network—to receive those emergency warnings.

You would be aware, I'm sure, Senator Hanson-Young, that, in addition to restoring the funding cut by the former coalition government, this government has taken a number of steps to lock in certainty around future ABC funding, in particular locking in five-year funding terms of increased funding so that the ABC, whether it be the emergency broadcasting section or any other, is not subject to the whims of the government of the day and is not subject to the risk of political interference through fear of losing their funding. That will assist the emergency broadcasting role of the ABC in addition to the many other important roles that the ABC plays. We're, of course, also conducting a review into options for strengthening the independence of the ABC to safeguard against further arbitrary funding cuts that we might see from a future coalition government. (Time expired)