John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The first of July this year marked the 80th anniversary of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The ABC is a national institution and one of the world's great public broadcasters. It is not without fault, but too often it has been the object of criticism for those who seek to silence it or use its influence for their own ends. Instead of dwelling today on its flaws, I want to focus on the contribution the ABC has made to our country's character and to the national conversation.

On 17 May 1932, the Australian Broadcasting Commission Act created a national broadcaster committed, in then Prime Minister Lyons's words, to 'serve all sections and to satisfy the diversified tastes of the public'. In that same year, the Sydney Harbour Bridge opened and Aldous Huxley published his novel Brave New World. The ABC was indeed part of a brave new world—a brave new world of communication where, for the first time, wireless broadcasting was able to traverse a vast and sparsely populated continent. The ABC's ability, then and now, to overcome the tyranny of distance and bind a nation together makes it a piece of national infrastructure every bit as important as the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Early radio programs were dedicated to such topics as needlecraft and the proper care of goldfish. Another feature were synthetic cricket broadcasts, where commentators such as Charles Moses, Mel Morris and Alan McGilvray used cables from London and sound effects in their Sydney studio to recreate the match in play. While these broadcasts reflect our fascination with the national game, the fact that the complete works of Shakespeare were performed between 1936 and 1938 speaks to the ABC's abiding dedication to high culture.

Whilst cricket remains an indispensable part of the schedule and Shakespeare a continuing star, ABC radio has changed dramatically in 80 years. It now includes the popular youth station triple j, charged with unearthing much of the nation's contemporary music talent. ABC local radio provides vital information to rural and regional Australia and provides much-needed competition to commercial stations in our cities. And Classic FM and Radio National are essential parts of the nation's cultural and intellectual life.

But radio is not the sole province of the ABC. On 5 November 1956, in a voice now peculiarly British in intonation, host Michael Charlton welcomed viewers to 'your television service'. And so began ABC television just in time for the Melbourne Olympics, just in time for postwar Australia to watch a teenage girl from Western Sydney win gold in the 100 and 200 metres.

And, while multiple stations and relatively low production costs enable ABC radio to hold the attention of both popular and particular audiences, the unique economic pressures of television have forced it to hold these extremes in closer tension, to try—although often fail—to appeal to both the many and the few. Consequently, it is often criticised for being either elitist or banal; sometimes it is accused of being both at the same time. But despite these complaints ABC television remains home to the country's most compelling drama, adventurous comedy and biting satire. And it is still the station that families turn to for intelligent and engaging children's programming—programs like Playschool, Behind the News and Sesame Street.

But where the ABC really excels is in current affairs, for it is when the ABC works in the public interest that it performs its most important duty. While he was editor of Quadrant, Robert Manne wrote:

... ABC's public affairs—AM, PM, The 7.30 Report, Lateline, Four Corners at its best—are irreplaceable. Taken together these programs represent by far the most important national political discussions we have7.

Robert Manne is right to highlight the ABC's importance to our public life for it is hard to imagine another broadcaster with the capacity or temerity to dedicate most of its schedule, across all of its platforms, to the pressing events of the day, and harder still to imagine another broadcaster able to produce journalists of the calibre and with the courage to uncover scandals like cash for comments, to report on a moonlight state, or to connect the French secret service to a ship in a New Zealand harbour.

For the most part, the ABC remains an independent and fearless public advocate. In the words of its historian Ken Inglis it is:

… a watchdog, dedicated to preventing the people's liberties from being burgled by holders of power.

The need for a public broadcaster dedicated to the public interest is an uncomfortable truth for those of us who frequent this place—an uncomfortable truth but a necessary truth nonetheless. After all, even former Prime Minister Howard once argued:

… Australia needs an independent, fearless, professional ABC.

The future of the ABC remains unwritten and uncertain. In the digital age, in which how we consume media is an increasingly atomised affair, the media landscape is an unpredictable terrain. But I take heart from the fact that ABC online remains among the most popular sources of information in the country and ABC podcasts among the most downloaded of programs. In an age increasingly suspicious of traditional authority, the ABC remains one of this country's most trusted institutions.

In a country as vast and diverse as our own, there is only one institution trusted with the task of presenting Australia's story to itself. In this role it has developed the national character, ensuring that the many disparate communities of this nation remain connected to a public space of the airwaves and screen. Perhaps this partly explains why Australia on the whole remains such a cohesive society with a common disposition.

Paul Chadwick once wrote that the ABC is:

… a sentry who watches and warns; a guide who searches, maps and explains; a scribe who listens and records; a witness with the courage to speak; a host to debates amongst others; an advocate for the weak; a keeper of collective memory.

For 80 years the ABC has performed these tasks on our behalf. Today I want to use this matter of public interest debate to say, 'Happy anniversary, Aunty!' and to thank the ABC for all it has achieved in the national interest.